15-04-2025
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.
