At least 50 Indian Americans figure in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List for the Class of 2026, recognizing 600 leaders from North America, within 20 different industries who are leading transformative change within business, culture, and entrepreneurship.
Altogether, Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2026 has raised $3.8 billion in funding and have amassed a 200M+ following on social media, showcasing how big their impact reaches, according to a media release.
This year’s list features the largest cohort of Gen Z honorees ever, with 70% of the cohort being Gen Z, jumping up from 50% last year.
Notable Indian American honorees on this year’s list include:
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Adit Abraham and Raunak Chowdhuri, co-founders of Reducto, an AI document intelligence platform, have successfully scaled the company to process nearly a billion pages per month for clients, including Fortune 10 enterprises, and secured over US$100M in funding at a valuation of US$600M.
Karun Kaushik is co-founder and CEO of Delve, an AI-native compliance automation platform. delve currently serves over 1,000 companies, and recently secured US$32M in Series A funding to expand its B2B security services.
Samir Dutta and Kunal Tangri, co-founders of Farsight, an AI platform that automates financial workflows for investment banking, private equity, and wealth management firms, work on developing high-accuracy AI systems for finance.
Advith Chelikani, co-founder of Pylon, an AI-powered operating system for B2B customer support designed as a modern alternative to legacy systems like Zendesk, has raised over US$50M in funding from top investors.
Nikhil Gupta is co-founder and CTO of Vapi, a B2B voice AI platform. Under his technical leadership, the Y Combinator-backed company has built low-latency, scalable infrastructure and raised over US$25M in funding from investors like Bessemer Venture Partners.
Finance
Stanford alums Ashi Agrawal and Kalyani Ramadurgam are the co-founders of Kobalt Labs, an AI-native platform that automates risk and compliance operations for financial institutions.
Arkin Gupta is a prominent trader who was recently hired by the hedge fund Citadel to help build its macroeconomic trading strategy.
Sid Malladi is the co-founder and CEO of Nuvo, a B2B trade network platform which has raised a total of US$45M to build a modern infrastructure that helps businesses onboard customers digitally, protect against fraud, and accelerate trade.
Yash Thukral is a founding partner at White Lion Capital LLC, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm that invests in late-stage public companies across life sciences, technology, and industrial sectors.
Social Media
Monica Ravichandran is a popular beauty content creator and influencer known for her advocacy for inclusive beauty and “no-BS beauty for brown skin.” She gained viral fame through her #LipstickColorTheory and #browngirlmakeup trends.
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Retail and E-commerce
Mit Patel is the co-founder and CEO of SwiftSku, a B2B technology platform which aims to modernize the c-store industry by offering real-time insights and data-driven recommendations to help small, family-owned businesses remain competitive against larger chains.
Yash Daftary, the founder and CEO of FanBasis, an all-in-one platform for internet entrepreneurs has raised over US$20M in Series A funding to expand Miami-based company’s global operations and product offerings.
Manufacturing and Industry
Ayna Arora is the co-founder and CEO of MorphoAI, an AI-powered software platform that automates the design and engineering of robots and machines by generating ready-to-manufacture designs from task requirements in minutes.
Meher Akhil Birlangi, co-founder and CTO of Craitor, a defense and space manufacturing company, led the electrical design for the company’s flagship FieldFab printer, which enhances supply chain readiness for the Department of Defense by allowing on-demand production of mission-critical parts anywhere in the world.
Anand Lalwani, co-founder and CEO of Cardinal Robotics, a robotics solutions provider that works with a “human-first approach” to augment frontline workers (like janitors) with technology rather than replacing them.
Healthcare
Arya Rao leads the AI research group at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s MESH Incubator, where she developed an AI-powered “Future Patient Persona” to simulate patient interactions for medical students, earning her the 2024 Massachusetts Medical Society Information Technology Award.
Karthik Bhaskara, co-founder of Arlo, a health tech company that offers value-based, level-funded health plans for small and medium-sized businesses, has raised US$4M in seed funding and aims to make healthcare more affordable and transparent for patients and employers.
Rohit Rustogi, co-founder and COO of Mandolin, an AI automation platform deployed in over 700 clinics, has raised US$40M in funding to scale its AI platform and accelerate patient access to life-saving therapies.
Arts and Style
Arushi Kapoor, cofounder and lead advisor at The Agency Art House, connects collectors with blue-chip and emerging artists through a global network of advisors.
Teya Kepila, founder of The Turmeric Times, is a Brooklyn-based ceramic artist whose work advances holistic living. Her practice blends craft, community engagement, and lifestyle storytelling.
Hollywood and Entertainment
Abhinaya Govindan, a stand-up comedian and writer, toured internationally and staged her solo show off-Broadway in 2025. She recently completed a European run and is preparing for an India tour this winter.
Education
Anahita Dalmia, co-founder of Alterea, created the “Agents of Influence” media-literacy game that teaches adolescents digital safety. It has reached more than 120,000 students and shown measurable gains in misinformation detection.
Rajya Atluri, co-founder of Coral AI, built a research-analysis platform used by 630,000 people across 190 countries. The tool processes academic materials into searchable databases and automated outputs and has passed US$1M in ARR.
Amareen Dhaliwal, co-founder of CCRPS, runs a global clinical research training program that has served 25,000 students in 82 countries. The bootstrapped venture crossed US$500,000 in 2025 revenue.
Kausi Raman, cofounder of Chompshop, helped create the kid-safe ChompSaw, now used in classrooms and homes across multiple regions. The company expects revenue to jump to US$12M in 2025 after appearing on “Shark Tank.”
Rochelle Prasad, founder of SPARK Foundation, leads a youth-run nonprofit offering leadership programs, scholarships, and life-skills training to more than 500,000 young people. She is also developing Chalkfund, a platform for teachers to crowdfund classroom resources.
Aryan Bhadouria, co-founder of TeachShare, builds AI tools that streamline lesson planning, grading, and differentiated instruction. More than 300,000 users rely on the platform, which has raised US$2.3M.
Social Impact
Sarika Bajaj and Tushita Gupta, cofounders of Refiberd, developed AI technology that sorts textiles for recycling and resale with one-to-two percent accuracy. Their system has attracted partners, including eBay and GANNI and secured US$4.7M in funding.
Amrita Bhasin, cofounder and CEO of Sotira, has diverted two million pounds of unsold inventory from landfills through her reuse and resale platform. Sotira has raised more than US$2.2M along with major climate-focused grants and awards.
Shiv Soin, cofounder of TREEage, helped build a 2,500-member youth climate network that has backed major New York climate legislation. The group has raised more than US$923,000 and expects US$800,000 in revenue this year.
Mohan Sudabattula, founder of Project Embrace, repurposes surplus medical equipment to deliver supplies and host camps for underserved communities. His nonprofit has supported more than 12,000 patients in the U.S. and abroad.
Transportation and Aerospace
Shashwat Murarka and Sheel Patel co-founded Doorstep, a startup that uses phone-sensor technology to reduce last-mile delivery failures, has raised US$8M in seed funding in 2025 to expand its system across major delivery platforms.
Ashika Gopalkrishnan, product director for NASA’s SBIR/STTR program, redesigned funding systems to cut processing time by 92% and save US$2M annually. She also digitized NASA’s spinoff program to speed up commercialization.
Dhruv Gupta, cofounder and CEO of Drumkit, which develops AI tools that automate workflows for freight brokers and logistics, has raised US$6.7M and projects US$3.8M in 2025 revenue.
Vishaal Mali, cofounder and CEO of Salient Motion, builds electromechanical actuation systems for commercial and military aircraft. Backed by US$16M, the company’s first certifiable platform is set to debut on Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 aircraft.
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Arhan Chhabra, co-founder of Rove, a platform helping Gen Z earn airline miles on everyday spending through partnerships with major travel programs, has raised US$3.5M from investors such as Y Combinator and Peak XV Partners.
Onkar Singh, founder and CEO of Apolink, developed a hybrid radio-optical relay system enabling continuous communication for low-Earth-orbit satellites. The company has raised US$4.3M and plans a 2026 demonstration mission.
Food and Drink
Mitalee Bharadwaj co-founded Transcendence Coffee, a brand known for whole-spice–based coffee syrups inspired by her South Indian heritage.
Science
Navvye Anand, co-founder of Bindwell, launched with US$6M raised in 2025, uses AI to design safer pesticides with reduced ecosystem impact.
Shaurya Luthra, co-founder of Northwood Space, created a ground network capable of connecting antennas to ten satellites simultaneously. Backed by US$36M, the company opened its first ground station later this year.
Shreyas Vissapragada, a Carnegie Observatories researcher, studies exoplanet atmospheres and orbital decay. His recent work includes criteria to assess whether distant planets may retain atmospheres, backed by nearly US$1M in research funds.
Sports
Akshat Prakash, chief technology officer at Camb.ai, which builds AI-powered translation systems, has powered translations for Major League Soccer, Nascar, Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 soccer in France, and the Australian Open.
Venture Capital
Manmeet Gujral, vice president at CapitalG, sourced deals at Magic and Baseten and contributed to major AI- and healthcare-focused investments. He previously worked at Tecton, building a large AI developer community.
Divya Dhulipala, principal at Haystack, sources early-stage deals in areas including AI infrastructure and real estate tech. Her prior experience spans TrueBridge Capital Partners and March Capital.
Vinay Iyengar, founder of Anansi Capital, which invests in AI rollup startups, has also made angel investments in companies such as Discord and Canva.
Saveena Mandadi, principal at Mantis VC, works across cybersecurity, infrastructure, and AI, contributing to more than 30 early-stage investments. Her portfolio includes companies such as Whop, Rogo, and Cloaked.