By Gabriela Baron
Seven Filipinos were included in Forbes “30 under 30″ Asia,” which is composed of young entrepreneurs and business influencers in different fields across the Asia-Pacific region.
These Filipinos came from the categories of Finance and Venture Capital, Industry, Manufacturing and Energy, The Arts, and Retail and Commerce.
Finance and Venture Capital – Aaron Villegas
Villegas, 25, is the chief executive officer of Lista, a finance tracker application that helps individuals and small businesses in the Philippines manage their finances.
Lista lets users plan spending, track finances, and set payment or debt reminders.
Co-founded by Villegas in 2021, the company claims to have over 1.6 downloads. It has also raised $5.8 million from investors, including the $5.1 million in June 2022.
Industry, Manufacturing and Energy – Rui Aguiar, King Alandy Dy, Jeff Tan, and Jig Young
Aguiar (25), Dy (25), Tan (25), and Young (27) all co-founded Expedock to automate the international freight industry.
The startup uses artificial intelligence to read paperwork and invoices, before categorizing and visualizing profit and loss insights for supply chain businesses.
In August 2022, investors, including Insight Partners, WIN, Motion Ventures, and Decent Capital pumped $17.5 million in Expedock’s Series A funding round.
The Arts – Isabel Sicat
While completing a dual degree at Brown University in Rhode Island School of Design and interning at New York fashion houses such as Alexander Wang, Sicat, 29, felt there was a lack for island lifestyles, hence she co-founded Toqa.
Made to order and shipped worldwide from the Philippines, Toqa turns deadstock fabrics into sustainable high fashion, including sheer slip dresses, high-cut metallic swimwear, and vibrant island prints.
Some of Toqa’s collections have been featured in the 2022 Hawaii Triennial exhibition, Vogue Philippines, and L’Officiel.
Retail and Commerce – David Marquez
Maquez, 29, co-founded Manila-based delivery platform Shipmates in August 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand for e-commerce and accompanying courier services.
The startup, which aims to usher in “next generation” shipping technology and infrastructure for the Philippines, was selected for Y Combinator’s 2022 summer cohort.
Shipmates raised $2.2 million in a seed round, with participation from Wavemaker Partners.
Before Shipmates, Marques also cofounded t-shirt printing startup Shirt.ly and supply chain and storage startup Xpanse.
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