Four Pakistanis have been featured in the Forbes’ 2017 ‘30 Under 30 Asia’ list.

Forbes is globally famous magazine and news enterprise with special focus on Business and Technology. Forbes 30 Under 30 is the list which is generated every year by Forbes magazine which recognizes the young talent around the world. Asian list in 30 under 30 picks up 300 young entrepreneurs, innovators, startups in 10 different categories.

In 2017 three Pakistanis have been featured in the magazine, 2 startups in retail & Ecommerce and Enterprise Technology categories and one entrepreneur in entertainment and sports list.

Waqas Ali, 29, co-founder of Markhor

Markhor was cofounded by Waqas Ali, it is a luxury men’s shoe brand to promote the country’s spectacular handcrafted shoe industry, due to this innovative concept, Waqas Ali is listed in the Retail & Ecommerce category of Forbes 30 Under 30  Asia list.

Markhor earned fame for its handcrafted footwear and went on to become the first Pakistani startup to be granted admission into the prestigious Y Combinator. The brand retails online, cutting out the middle-man system and helping small-time artisans make a profit.

Last month, Markhor launched another Kickstarter campaign introducing its new product line featuring leather sleeves and pads for MacBook users. They have already raised $12,833 against their goal of $5,000.

Bilal Athar, 27, CEO of Wifigen

Bilal Athar, aged 27, is the CEO of Wifigen, a cloud-based WiFi hotspot system which enables companies to create a custom login interface for visitors. It also provides corporate clients with a cloud-based dashboard where they can see demographical data of people visiting them and further interact with them through email.

Athar, is a self-taught self-managed person, founded Wifigen in 2014, he has reputed customers including Singapore’s Changi Airport, the island of Tahiti, and Unilever. He is now looking to bring in more innovation by adding artificial intelligence into Wifigen’s algorithms.

Shahnawaz Zali 24, director/producer

Pakistani filmmaker Shahnawaz Zali is also seen on Forbes ’30 Under 30 Asia: In Entertainment and Sports’ list. Zali, who is from Lahore, is a graduate of Northwestern University Qatar Campus and has won international accolades for his films. His documentary film ‘100 Steps-Sau Qadam’ was nominated as the Best film in the Narrative category for the 43rd Student Academy Awards. He has further plans to expand his film making and do productive work in Pakistan.