BINI, Chess GM Daniel Quizon, and other Pinoys who made it to Forbes Asia's '30 Under 30' 2025 list
Forbes has released its annual 30 Under 30 Asia list, recognizing several Filipinos including artists, athletes, and innovators who are making a mark in their respective fields.
The prestigious selection has nine different categories: Entertainment and Sports; Social Media, Marketing, and Advertising; The Arts; Finance and Venture Capital; Retail and Commerce; Industry, Manufacturing, and Energy; Consumer and Enterprise Technology; Healthcare and Science; and Social Impact. This year's list also introduced AI as its new category, highlighting that a third of the list comprises tech innovators from across 20 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific.
After a rigorous screening process by accomplished and acclaimed innovators, the list was narrowed down from 4,500 nominations to 300 entries. Here are the Pinoys who made it to Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30 Asia list for 2025.
BINI
The nation's girl group has been making waves in the global scene since last year. BINI—composed of Jhoanna, Colet, Gwen, Aiah, Stacey, Mikha, Sheena, and Maloi—debuted in the P-pop scene in 2021 with the album Born To Win.
They're known for the hits Pantropiko, Salamin Salamin, Cherry on Top, and Blink Twice.
The girl group bagged the Best Asia Act award at the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA). They were also given the “Voices of Asia” award at Billboard Korea, alongside P-pop boy group SB19.
BINI was likewise included on Teen Vogue’s “12 Girl Groups to Watch in 2024” list released in May 2024 and in the Grammy Awards' list of “12 Girl Groups To Know Now” in October of the same year.
They likewise emerged as one of the top artists in Spotify Philippines for 2024, joining the likes of Taylor Swift, Hev Abi, Ariana Grande, and Bruno Mars.
The group is currently on their BINIverse world tour, which kicked off with a sold-out show in the Philippine Arena last February.
Renren Galeno
A visual artist from Davao City, Ren Galeno is among the honorees under the Social Media, Marketing, & Advertising category. She made rounds last year as a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her work, Search for Maura, in collaboration with journalists Nicole Dungca and Claire Healy. The project used comics to shed light on a historical injustice that happened in 1904 when a group of Filipinos at the World's Fair in St. Louis died.
Her book, Sa Wala (Nothing to Lose), won a 2024 National Book Award for Best Graphic Novel in English. Per the global magazine, she also contributed to the UK-funded climate change comic anthology Ten Years to Save the World.
Raya Buensuceso
Taking space in this year's Finance and Venture Capital category is Raya Buensuceso, managing director of Kaya Founders, which backs early-stage startups in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia.
Buensuceso, an economics graduate from Princeton University, has been involved in the firm since its launch in 2021—from research and marketing, to strategy and investments, and beyond.
According to Forbes Asia, Kaya Founders says it has over 50 investments with $29 million (over P1.6 billion) in total assets under management.
Daniel Quizon
Quizon has made his mark in the chess industry after he became the Philippines' 17th grandmaster in 2024. He clinched the coveted GM title at 20 years old after beating grandmaster Igor Efimov and breaching the 2500-rating plateau during the 45th FIDE Chess Olympiad.
He managed to thrive as an elite player in various chess tournaments at a young age. In August 2018, he earned the International Master (IM) title after emerging victorious at the Eastern Asian Juniors Open Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, with 7.5 points from nine rounds.
Quizon was recognized by San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association as the MILO Junior Male Athlete of the Year in 2019 alongside award-winning tennis player Alex Eala.
He also dominated the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships in 2023 and the Hanoi Grandmaster Chess Tournament in March 2024. Quizon has a FIDE rating of 2461 in standard chess, 2317 in rapid, and 2394 in blitz.
Jasper Ruby Vijar
Vijar, a medical doctor and a licensed medical technologist, is the co-founder of Team Dugong Bughaw, a youth-led NGO in Iloilo advocating for HIV and AIDS awareness. Their initiatives include holistic HIV education, stigma reduction, peer education, and prevention. They also offer free HIV tests and condoms.
Team Dugong Bughaw has extended to provinces including Aklan and Capiz, and it has received support from USAID and Gilead Sciences.
Ysabel Chua
Chua is the vice president of Singapore-based venture capital firm Forge Ventures, where she started as the company's first-ever employee as an associate. She oversaw five investments, including the Indonesian supply chain startup Baskit and food startup Prefer.
She also co-leads the SoGal Foundation Manila Chapter for women founders and was a venture collaborator at Kaya Founders.
Chua, who graduated Magna Cum Laude and is a certificate public account, was previously held the chief-of-staff post at Pinoy fintech PayMongo and senior product manager at Shopee.
Anna Suavengco
Suavengco is a content creator known for her hydroponic gardening content on her channel Urban Farmer TV on TikTok and YouTube. As an agriculture student from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, she teaches her viewers how to make hydroponic vegetable farms without needing a large space.
Per the global magazine, the food sustainability advocate started posting content at the height of the pandemic, sharing her roofstop gardens she had created. She has also raised $6,300 (over P350,000) last year through Australia's crowdfunding platform Lift Women to launch courses, produce free videos, and hold free on-site workshops for senior citizens.
