Bini, an eight-member Filipino girl pop group, has been included in Forbes’ “30 Under 30 Asia” list for 2025.
Bini, short for ‘binibini’, which means young woman in Tagalog, was formed by ABS-CBN and draws inspiration from the global popularity of South Korean girl groups. The group’s members are Aiah, Colet, Gwen, Jhoanna, Maloi, Mikha, Sheena and Stacey.
The group kicked off its 15-city world tour in February with a sold-out concert at the 50,000-seat Philippine Arena north of Manila. Last year, Bini won Best Asia Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards and the Billboard K Power 100’s Voices of Asia award at its Seoul event. In March, Billboard Philippines named the eight members its Women of the Year after their top songs surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.
The 10th annual edition of the “30 Under 30 Asia” list features 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators from across the Asia-Pacific region, all under the age of 30, with a forward-looking vision largely driven by artificial intelligence.
The “Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia” Class of 2025 highlights 300 notable individuals selected across 10 categories: AI; Consumer & Enterprise Technology; Entertainment & Sports; Finance & Venture Capital; Healthcare & Science; Industry, Manufacturing & Energy; Retail & Ecommerce; Social Impact; Social Media, Marketing & Advertising; and The Arts (Art & Style, Food & Drink).
Other Filipinos on the list include visual artist Renren Galeno, a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist in illustrated reporting and commentary for “Searching for Maura” in the Washington Post. The piece recounted an injustice suffered by a group of Filipinos at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis.
Raya Buensuceso, managing director of Kaya Founders, invests in early-stage startups in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia. Kaya Founders reports having $29 million in total assets under management across over 50 investments.
Ysabel Chua is a vice president at Singapore-based venture capital firm Forge Ventures, which has a portfolio of 16 companies. She joined in 2022 as an associate and was the firm’s first employee. Since then, Chua has overseen five investments, including in Indonesian supply chain startup Baskit and food startup Prefer. Previously, Chua was chief of staff at Philippine fintech startup PayMongo and a senior product manager at Southeast Asian e-commerce giant Shopee.
Food sustainability advocate Anna Beatriz Suavengco is known for her “Urban Farmer” TV series, which teaches viewers how to create home hydroponic vegetable farms. An agriculture graduate from the University of the Philippines Los Banos, she started on TikTok during the pandemic, posting about her rooftop gardens. Suavengco, who now has nearly 200,000 followers on the platform, raised about A$10,000 ($6,300) last year through Australia’s crowdfunding platform Lift Women to launch courses, produce free videos, and hold free on-site workshops for senior citizens.
Jasper Ruby Vijar founded Team Dugong Bughaw, a youth-led NGO in the central Philippines, in 2015. Vijar, a medical doctor, aims to raise awareness of sexual health issues by offering reproductive health education, free HIV tests, and condoms.
This year’s 30 Under 30 Asia list highlights entrepreneurs and innovators with a bold vision for the future, largely powered by AI.
Beyond entrepreneurs, the list includes venture capitalists, activists, artists and athletes recognized for their achievements. They were vetted by a panel of industry experts and researched by a team of Forbes Asia reporters and editors across the region.
