Meet The 30 Under 30 Europe Class Of 2022

Our seventh annual Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list illustrates the power young entrepreneurs and leaders have to transform business and society.

To say these last few years have taken a toll on Europeans would be an understatement. After weathering the effects of a devastating global pandemic, they were shaken yet again earlier this year when Russia violently invaded Ukraine.

In the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, the 300 visionaries featured on the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list have persevered, innovating and collectively raising more than $2 billion in funding for their ventures—more than double the amount raised by last year’s honorees. Flush with cash, it’s no surprise that 80% of our listers believe the European economy is ripe for entrepreneurship.

This year’s class is boldly redefining 10 industries across nearly 30 countries. They are the result of thousands of international nominations and stamps of approval from expert judges, and join a community of young entrepreneurs and game-changers including singer-songwriter Adele, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, actress Cynthia Erivo and athlete Marcus Rashford.

Some of this year’s listers are already household names, like Simone Ashley, 27, who wowed viewers as Kate Sharma in the second season of Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton. And 22-year-old Khabane (Khaby) Lame, the most-followed TikToker after Charli D’Amelio, who has amassed 137 million followers by silently mocking overly complicated life hacks.

Then there are those whose names you may not know now, but surely will soon. Take James McIlroy, the 29-year-old founder and CEO of EnteroBiotix, which is improving upon fecal transplantation, an invasive procedure that moves microbes from a healthy patient to the gut of someone who’s sick. He has raised around $23 million and plans to launch a phase 2 clinical trial focused on liver disease by the end of the year. Equally as impressive is Anastasiia Lapatina, a 20-year-old journalist at the Kyiv Independent whose heartbreaking, on-the-ground reporting on the Russian invasion has moved her more than 600,000 Twitter followers. Lapatina is joined on the list by her colleagues Toma Istomina, Anna Myroniuk and Oleksiy Sorokin, who fortuitously founded the Kyiv Indepdent last fall after their former employer, the Kyiv Post, abruptly shut down.

These are just a few of the incredible young leaders on this year’s list. For a broader perspective, check out these facts about the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe class of 2022: