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Forbes 30 Under 30 features Finnish connection
Son Chu and Khanh Tran, the duo behind Finnish sneaker brand Rens Original, make their kicks from used coffee grounds.
Rens OriginalFive entrepreneurs with a Finnish connection are included on Forbes 30 Under 30, a list of talented young people who are reinventing business and society.
Altogether 300 people from 32 European made it to the Forbes list for making their mark on 10 industries and society at large. They were selected from thousands of international nominations by a panel of blue-ribbon judges after months of evaluation.
The list includes five young entrepreneurs who were either born, or established companies, in Finland. They are having an impact on food delivery, clothing, diagnosis and journalism.
Marianne Vikkula (27) is the vice president of Finnish food delivery service Wolt and was listed among the best young European technology innovators. Since she joined Wolt to lead expansion efforts in 2018, the company has tripled its country presence to 20 and grown its team from 100 to more than 700 employees.
Kunal Garg (28) is the co-founder of Tezted, a Finnish startup focusing on improving the diagnosis of tick-borne diseases. The company has developed a diagnostics tool capable of detecting up to 20 tick-borne associated microbes simultaneously.
Melissa Heikkilä (27) is a technology writer for Politico Europe based in Brussels. She has reported widely on topics where technology converges with society but also about women challenging Uber’s response to the sexual harassment scandal that broke on its platform.
Vietnamese-born duo Son Chu (23) and Khanh Tran (27) featured among the best European social entrepreneurs. Their eco-friendly company, Rens Original, has developed the world’s first sneakers made from used coffee ground and recycled plastic. The sneakers have generated interest worldwide and have been sold to individuals in over 100 countries.