14-05-2025
Meet Asia's 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs Making Robots And Rockets
Yi Gang was a chemistry student at the China University of Mining and Technology when he realized a friend was struggling to afford a prosthetic hand. Determined to help, he researched how to make one himself, and with money raised from a teacher and part-time jobs, he completed a robotics prototype his junior year. Impressed, the university gave Yi access to a lab room and a robotic engineering tutor to study the subject further. After graduating in 2020, Yi launched Shanghai-based Ti5 Robot Technology, which has since developed five robot models. They include a couple of two-legged humanoids powered by its AI software, which can navigate different environments and respond to verbal commands.
Yi Gang is one of the innovators on this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia: Industry, Manufacturing & Energy list who are creating pioneering products.
Deliveries of Ti5 Robot Technology's 1.7-meter-tall humanoids will start in June in China and the U.S. 'The commercialization of humanoid robots is happening very fast,' Yi says. 'And we are at the forefront of it.'
Yi declined to name customers of his humanoids, which cost between 200,000 yuan and 800,000 yuan ($27,000 and $110,000). The price varies, he says, depending on whether the robots will be used for simpler jobs, such as shaking hands or interacting with customers in service centers, or for complex customized tasks like running checks on factory lines. Ti5 has raised almost 200 million yuan from investors, including Chinese VC Plum Ventures and Matrix Partners China. The company also sells a bionic hand and robotics parts to industrial manufacturers, including car makers.
Humanoid robots are especially seeing an uptick in demand in China where the government has announced plans to channel hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to cutting edge industries including robotics and AI.
Yue Xi, cofounder of Robotera
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Also riding this trend is Xi Yue who cofounded Beijing-based humanoid robot maker Robotera with Tsinghua University assistant professor Chen Jianyu (over 30). Their 1.7-meter robot Star1 can walk and run, has climbed the Great Wall and taken part in a marathon. Robotera has raised about 400 million yuan ($54 million) in funding from investors that include IMO Ventures and Vision Plus Capital. In March, the company signed an agreement with Chinese home appliance giant Haier to jointly develop robots to assist with household chores.
30 Under 30 Asia listees this year are also making strides in spacetech–especially in India where Tanveer Ahmed, Rahul Rawat and Anirudh Sharma cofounded Digantara, which develops tools for commercial space companies and government agencies to monitor potential safety risks in orbit, such as satellites and debris. Sharma says Digantara is building the equivalent of Google Maps for space. The company's funding includes a $12 million series A round completed last February from investors including Aditya Birla Ventures, Peak XV Partners and Kalaari Capital.
Jainul Abedin, founder of Abyom SpaceTech and Defence
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Their compatriot Jainul Abedin founded Abyom SpaceTech and Defence in 2020. The company is developing reusable rocket launch technologies for commercial use and academic research. Abedin says the first launch is scheduled for 2027. Last November, the company raised $2.5 million in seed funding from Scope Ventures.
Reusable rocket launch technologies have also attracted the attention of Manu J. Nair and Prashant Sharma who cofounded Bangalore-based space startup Ethereal Exploration Guild in 2022 with Shubhayu Sardar (over 30). The company is developing fully reusable launch vehicles, targeting the so-called medium-lift segment, which can lift between 2,000 and 20,000 kilograms by NASA classification. EtherealX's initial product is called Razor Crest Mk-1, which can carry 25 tons to low Earth orbit. Last year, the company raised $5 million in seed funding from investors including Bluehill Capital and YourNest.
Elsewhere in the region, young entrepreneurs are exploring new and environmentally friendly ways to manufacture industrial and consumer goods.
In New Zealand, college friends William Murrell and Ben Scales cofounded KiwiFibre in 2021. The Christchurch-based company has developed technologies to turn the country's indigenous harakeke plant into materials that can serve as a sustainable alternative to carbon fiber and fiberglass. KiwiFibre has raised almost NZ$5 million ($2.9 million) in funding from investors including Icehouse Ventures and Phase One Ventures. The company says its products have already been used to make snowboards and race cars.
William Murrell and Ben Scales, cofounders of KiwiFibre
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In neighboring Australia, Connor Balfany's The Leaf Protein Co. has developed technologies to extract protein from leaf tissues in the form of an edible powder, which can be mixed in drinks or used to make diet supplements. Last June, the Melbourne-based company raised A$850,000 ($540,000) in pre-seed funding from investors including LaunchVic and Loyal VC.
In China, Su Rui and Xue Ruixuan cofounded SynMetabio to make synthetic materials, particularly synthetic leather. Established in 2021, their Shanghai-based company uses gene editing and fermenting technologies to process base materials such as corn cobs and straw into synthetic leather. The company has raised 50 million yuan ($7 million) in funding from investors including K2VC and MiraclePlus.
Read our complete Industry, Manufacturing & Energy list here – and be sure to check out our full Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2025 coverage here.
