30 Under 30 Europe Social Impact 2025: Meet The Founders Merging Tech And Human Impact
For entrepreneur Lisa Oberaigner, 26, her MIT master's thesis on carbon emissions across the supply chain was just the foundation.
She soon turned her paper into a product. Setting her sights specifically on construction, an industry accountable for 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Oberaigner is now the CEO and cofounder of Emidat, which uses AI-powered software to help manufacturers of materials like cement, steel, and glass understand their products' environmental impact. The company has raised $4.8 million from investors, including General Catalyst, to help the construction industry meet client demands, differentiate their products, and comply with ongoing regulations.
Sebastian Nevols for Forbes
'The moment that manufacturers actually reduce in the real world, they should also be able to show this to their customer and charge a 'green premium,'' says Oberaigner. 'In the long run, what happens is that we actually help create competition that is not only based on price, but also on better environmental data.'
Oberaigner is one of the pioneering social entrepreneurs on this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Social Impact list, leveraging technology to address today's most pressing problems. From education access to food waste and domestic violence prevention to visual impairment, the young innovators who earned a spot on this year's 30 Under 30 Europe Social Impact list are creating scalable, impactful solutions at the intersection of technological innovation and social change.
Dacod Magagula, 29, and
Tao Laine Boyle, 28, are democratizing education through FoondaMate, a WhatsApp-based learning platform that has exploded from 40,000 to 4 million users across 180 countries in just three years. Using existing messaging infrastructure, their service works where internet access is limited.
Similarly innovative is Kenya-born Brian Mwenda, 28, who is taking on assistive mobility. Together with Austrian Laura Wissiak, 28, he founded Hope Tech Plus, developing the "Sixth Sense,' a wearable device that uses sonar, echolocation and AI to help visually impaired individuals navigate independently.
Like Oberaigner, the climate crisis has spurred ingenious solutions from Vincent Garcia, 28 and Martin d'Agay, 29, who cofounded Kikleo to tackle the massive food waste problem in professional kitchens. Their AI-powered system automatically identifies the nature and weight of discarded food, allowing restaurants to adjust their purchasing and production. The impact is substantial: 200 tons of food saved (equivalent to 400,000 meals) and 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions avoided.
For Jasmine Douglas, 28, entrepreneurship wasn't a choice, it was a necessity. After experiencing discrimination in tech, the British-American founder with Nigerian heritage created Babes on Waves, an AI-driven networking platform connecting women of color entrepreneurs to funding, job opportunities and industry power players. What began as a membership club has facilitated 1,000+ job placements and helped members secure over $800,000 in funding while building partnerships with global brands like Apple, Nike, and L'Oréal.
Also driven by personal experience is Ba Linh Le, 28. A second-generation Vietnamese immigrant, Le created Frontline after experiencing domestic abuse herself. Her AI-powered domestic violence prevention tool achieves 84% accuracy in predicting high-risk situations like potential domestic abuse incidents and has been implemented across half of Germany's social services.
What unites this year's honorees is their dual focus on technological innovation and human-centered impact. They're not just creating businesses, they're building solutions that address fundamental social challenges while demonstrating that purpose and profit can work hand in hand.
Candidates were evaluated by a panel of judges at the top of their respective fields, including Natalie Campbell, Co-CEO of Belu Water; Jessica Anderen, CEO of the IKEA Foundation; Roberta Bosurgi, CEO of Impact Europe; and Flinn Dolman, cofounder and Head of AI at Lawhive, and Under 30 Europe 2024 alum. To be considered this year, all nominees must have been 29 or younger as of April 9, 2025. Of those named to the final list, 45.7% of individuals identify as people of color, 57.1% are women, and 91.4% are founders or cofounders.
This year's list was edited by LaVonne Roberts, Brianne Garrett, and Igor Bosilkovski. For a link to our complete 2025 30 Under 30 Social Impact list, click here, and for full 2025 30 Under 30 Europe coverage, click here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump v Musk: 10 ways they can further hurt each other
The falling-out between the world's richest person and the president of the world's largest economy will have consequences – for both of them. Elon Musk, as the boss of multiple companies including Tesla, and Donald Trump, who has benefited from Musk's support in his journey to the White House, have had a mutually beneficial relationship up until now. Here are 10 ways in which Musk and Trump could hurt each other if they fail to broker a peace deal. Cancel government contracts related to Musk's businesses Responding to Musk's criticism of his tax and spending bill, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Thursday that cancelling the billionaire's government contracts would be a straightforward way to save money. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it!' Trump said. In 2024, the New York Times reported that Musk's companies – which include electric vehicle maker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX – have over the past year been promised $3bn across nearly 100 different contracts with 17 federal agencies. Investigate Musk's alleged drug use The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have made allegations of heavy drug use by Musk, raising questions about Nasa requirements for its contractors – including SpaceX – to maintain a drug-free workforce. The Times alleged that Musk has received advanced warning of the tests. SpaceX has been contacted for comment. Responding to the Times allegations on X last month, Musk wrote: 'to be clear, I am NOT taking drugs!' In 2024 he said he sometimes used ketamine on a doctor's prescription. Challenge Musk's immigration status Steve Bannon, a Trump ally and influential 'alt-right' figure, told the Times on Thursday that Musk's immigration status should be investigated. 'They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,' Bannon said of South Africa-born Musk, who is a US citizen. Use general presidential powers against Musk When Trump was elected, observers pointed to the myriad ways in which a Musk-friendly White House administration could benefit the financial interests of the world's richest person. That benign environment, which includes awarding of government contracts and directing federal agencies giving Musk's businesses an easier ride, could of course be turned hostile. Richard Pierce, a law professor at George Washington University and a specialist in government regulation, told the Guardian at the time: 'All federal regulators and prosecutors work for the president. He can tell them to do something or not to do something with the understanding that he will fire them if they disobey.' Ostracise Musk from the Maga movement Trump, as the leader of the 'Make America great again' vanguard, can close doors on Musk. The Republican congressman Troy Nehls excoriated the billionaire on Thursday, telling him: ''You've lost your damn mind.' He added: 'Enough is enough.' Musk can handle such opprobrium and, given his considerable wealth, he is an important source of funding for Republican politicians. Turn X against the White House Musk used his X platform, and his more than 220 million followers on it, to rally support for Trump's victory in the 2024. It also provided a platform for rightwing views that helped publicise the Maga agenda. Theoretically, Musk could at least use his own X account to criticise Trump with as much regularity as he pumped the president's policies (the Tesla chief executive is a prolific user of his own platform). However, this also depends on Musk's influence with the US electorate. Five out of 10 US adults say they have an unfavourable view of Musk, according to the Pew Research Center. But it should be noted that seven out of 10 Republicans or Republican-leaning adults hold a favourable view – he's not going to sway many Democrats who dislike Trump anyway. Form a new political movement Musk, who is worth more than $300bn (£220bn), could divert his considerable financial resources away from the Republican party and start a new political entity. Musk spent $250m on getting Trump elected in 2024, signalling his willingness to invest heavily in politics. On Thursday he posted a poll on X and asked: 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?' More than 80% of the 4.8 million respondents voted 'yes'. Create geopolitical problems with his businesses The Starlink satellite broadband platform, owned by Musk's SpaceX, is playing a key rule in Ukraine's fight against a Russian invasion, while China is an important manufacturing and consumer base for Tesla. Through his businesses, Musk also has political contacts around the world and is regularly photographed in the company of global leaders. However, any damage Musk causes to Trump's international standing or interests will have to be balanced with any knock-on effect on his own businesses. Create problems for Nasa Nasa has a close relationship with Musk's SpaceX, with the company's Dragon spacecraft being used to transport the agency's astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Musk immediately pledged to decommission Dragon in the wake of the Trump spat on Thursday – before quickly signalling an about-face. Nonetheless, SpaceX is a crucial part of Nasa's ISS operations. Tell-all on Trump Musk has been a fixture of Trump's inner circle for a considerable period of time and, as the contents of his X account show, he is capable of taking multiple damaging swipes at people. However, members of Trump's inner circle will have had the same access to Musk, whose personal life is becoming a media staple.
USA Today
7 hours ago
- USA Today
Steve Bannon prods Trump to cut off Elon Musk: 'He crossed the Rubicon'
WASHINGTON — It took a little longer than he may have liked, but Steve Bannon eventually triumphed over Elon Musk. In a mid-January interview, the former chief strategist to Donald Trump pledged to get Musk, who he called an "evil guy," booted from the then-incoming president's inner circle within days. Six months later, Musk is out. And a feud between Trump and the world's richest man is under way. Bannon has stoked the tension, which began when Musk, a former special government employee who led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, called on senators to reject Trump's tax cut bill. The two have traded barbs ever since, with Musk suggesting that Trump be impeached and Trump lamenting to reporters on June 5 that he did not know if he and his former pal would be able to repair their relationship. Bannon tightens the screws on Musk In print, radio and podcast interviews, Bannon has piled on Musk. He called on Trump to end the SpaceX and Tesla founder's government contracts. He's also prodded Trump to investigate alleged drug use by the South African-born businessman, as well as his immigration status. "He crossed the Rubicon. It's one thing to make comments about spending on the bill. There's another thing about what he did," Bannon said on NPR's "Morning Edition" program. "You can't come out and say kill the president's most important legislative occurrence of this first term." Musk's claim that Trump is mentioned in undisclosed classified files related to the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Musk's affirmative response to a social media post pushing for Trump to be replaced by Vice President JD Vance were too far, Bannon said on NPR, a public broadcasting organization the White House is trying to defund. "It has crossed the line," Bannon said of Musk. "There's no going back." Bannon said in a June 6 podcast he does not consider Musk's ouster a personal victory. "I don't ever look at things like that at all. Right now, it's a national security issue," Bannon said on the UnHerd with Freddie Sayers podcast. He went on to accuse Musk of abusing his position inside the government to try gain access to government secrets to boost his business. DOGE did not deliver on the $1 trillion in savings Musk promised, he said of the government spending-slashing effort. "Where's the money? What was DOGE really doing?" Bannon asked. "We want to make sure DOGE and Elon Musk didn't take any of the data sets for his personal use for his artificial intelligence, which is driving all of his businesses." A clash that was months in the making Bannon's own distaste for Musk dates back to a dispute over temporary visas for highly skilled immigrant laborers. Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump initially tapped to co-lead DOGE, pushed for an expansion of the program as way to attract global talent, irritating immigration hawks in the conservative movement. "We're not going to be some anarcho-libertarian (state) run by Big Tech oligarchs — that's not going to happen," Bannon said on his War Room podcast in December. Bannon told Politico in a June 5 interview that, after the split with Trump, the MAGA movement is now done with Musk. 'I think MAGA is now seeing exactly what he was," Bannon said. 'I'm just saying, 'Hey, told you — knew this was gonna happen, folks. Not a hard one.''
San Francisco Chronicle
7 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. landmark will be torn down as part of major Fisherman's Wharf redesign
Alioto's Restaurant, the classic seafood spot that was a gathering place for Bay Area families for nearly 80 years before shuttering in 2020, will be demolished and replaced by a new public plaza as part of a $10 million plan by the Port of San Francisco to reimagine the historic heart of Fisherman's Wharf. Port Director Elaine Forbes said the agency spent several years looking for a new operator for the 11,000-square-foot Alioto's, but the sheer size and dilapidated condition of the three-story structure — and the multimillion-dollar investment needed to make it structurally sound — made it a tough sell. 'It's just a relic, essentially, a relic of an important history, but it is not the future,' Forbes said. Knocking down Alioto's and building a plaza are the centerpiece of a package of wharf improvements that will include the lighting of the lagoon and the demolition of a crumbling former smokehouse that has been used for storage in recent years. The port expects to complete the first phase next year while starting work on a longer-range project that will include seismic and sea-level rise protections. Forbes said removing Alioto's would give the public access to the lagoon where San Francisco's fishing boats are docked and where locals can line up to buy fresh fish and crab off the vessels. The view of the lagoon that lured so many families to Alioto's for graduation and birthday celebrations — the brightly-painted Monterey Hull fishing boats with the Golden Gate Bridge beyond — would be available to anyone visiting the new public piazza. Alioto's was one of six major Fisherman's Wharf restaurants that closed, and didn't reopen, when the pandemic lockdown started more than five years ago. The port has found new operators for three of the spaces: Chasca Rio will open at 340 Jefferson St., which used to house Pompei's Grotto; Everett & Jones Barbeque will take over the former Lou's Fish Shack; and Castanola's will reopen with a new operator and concept, which has yet to be announced. But three legacy spots overlooking the lagoon at the foot of Taylor Street — Alioto's, Fisherman's Grotto #9 and Tarantino's — proved to be too spacious and run-down to be attractive at a time when there is little demand for cavernous seafood eateries designed to cater to groups of 10 or 12. Having a trio of shuttered waterfront structures discourages visitors from continuing past Taylor Street as they meander north on the waterfront from Pier 39, according to Mike Rescino, who docks his charter fishing boat Lovely Martha in the lagoon near Alioto's. It has put a damper on his business. 'When they see a row of closed restaurants all they do is say, 'Nothing is here,' and turn around and walk back to Pier 39,' Rescino said. For decades the port, which owns 7.5 miles of San Francisco waterfront, managed Fisherman's Wharf with benign neglect. Its restaurants were humming, its crab stands packed, its bread bowls full of chowder, and its stalls along Jefferson Street bright with Alcatraz-themed fleece. With many of the city's piers crumbling, the wharf was the least of the port's problems. 'It was working magically,' Forbes said. But while cioppino and crab continued to draw millions of visitors to the wharf, even before the pandemic it was clear that the jumbo, family-friendly seafood joints that were so popular in the '60s and '70s and '80s were becoming obsolete. Revenue was down and it was unclear that the three businesses would survive until the end of their 66-year leases, which expire in 2036. What had been 'a private economic engine that the port was there to support,' was now 'in need of more defined intervention,' said Deputy Port Director Michael Martin. Taryn Hoppe, who owns several businesses in the neighborhood and is the president of the Fisherman's Wharf Community Benefit District, said she feels 'a little wistful' about the history that will vanish with the removal of Alioto's, but said 'overwhelmingly, this is a big deal in a good way.' 'This is what we have been asking for,' she said. 'There is really no other option. You can't lease that space. It's falling apart, and we have always wanted to open up more access to the fishing fleet and that lagoon area.' She credited the port, an enterprise agency that mostly funds its activity through rent from its properties, with proposing a $10 million project that will not directly generate revenue. 'We needed the port to kick-start something major, a turn of the tide of that Taylor Street area where these buildings are impossible to lease and falling apart,' she said. What will become of the two multilevel vacant restaurant spaces next to Alioto's — Fisherman's Grotto #9 and Tarantino's — remains to be seen. The two buildings will be activated with temporary ground-floor uses while the plaza is built, according to the port. It's possible that one or both could benefit from overlooking the new plaza — a food hall or interactive museum, perhaps — but the structures could also eventually be demolished to expand the open space and access to the lagoon. Alioto's got its start in 1925 when Sicilian immigrant Nunzio Alioto Sr. began selling crab and shrimp cocktail at Stall #8. By 1938, the family had built the first restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf. It became known for its cioppino, a fish stew, as well as the turquoise and black sign that sits on top of the building. Woody LaBounty, executive director of the preservation group San Francisco Heritage, called Alioto's 'a long-standing stalwart for people who grew up in San Francisco.' Its sign was part of a cityscape that was seen in movies and television shows like 'The Streets of San Francisco.' He compared the sign to the Golden Gate Bridge and the cable cars. 'It's really sad. Alioto was one of our top 10 legacy bars and restaurants, we hate to lose those sort of things,' he said. But, he said a preservation campaign to save the building is unlikely. 'If you ask anyone who grew up in the city, 99% of people are going to say, 'Do not let that go,'' he said. 'But it's hard if there is not a business model that can be successful right now.' Port spokesman Eric Young said the termination agreement for the Alioto lease gave the family the rights to the restaurant name and the 'number 8,' but the sign and other property left behind belong to the port. 'The port welcomes an engagement with the Alioto family to develop interpretive signage at the plaza that would honor the family's contribution to the wharf,' Young said. He said the port would 'safeguard the signs from the restaurant.' The new chapter comes as the wharf remains one of the most visited places in San Francisco in 2024, with 10 million visitors, a number which is down from 15 million in 2019. Forbes emphasized that the investment is part of a larger effort to make sure the wharf is relevant, both to locals and tourists. Other efforts include attracting the Skystar Observation Wheel, the ferris wheel that was moved in 2023 from Golden Gate Park; installing new furniture, greenery and pop-up containers on the promenade along Little Embarcadero; and building a new $6 million floating dock along Al Scoma Way to enhance off-the-boat fish sales and waterside excursions. 'We are the custodian of Fisherman's Wharf,' Forbes said. 'It's been this endurable, magical place for San Francisco that has really driven economic well-being, but also the identity of who we are as a city.' David Beaupre, who operates planning for the port, said it's important that the work on the Alioto's property start as soon as possible. Removing the heavy 11,000-square-foot building will relieve pressure on the pier substructure that 'has not seen major investment since the 1960s.' 'We are hoping to do it quickly, because time is not on our side,' he said.
