From Digital Textbooks To Sustainable Fashion: Meet The Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Social Entrepreneurs 2019

When the Forbes 30 Under 30 list is released every year, there's plenty of talk about venture capital funding, hot-shot mentors and ideas that will change the world. There's less talk about a distinctly less sexy topic: failure. But that is the beginning of many entrepreneurial stories, like 25-year-old Lix founder and CEO Camilla Hessellund Lastein whose first attempt at starting her company ended in bankruptcy.

"I was still in college when I got the idea, and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing," Hessellund Lastein tells Forbes. "If you open a textbook and see 'How to Start a Company 101,' I probably did everything it'd say not to do."

"Lix is digitizing textbooks for university students and making them affordable on a subscription model," says Lix founder and CEO Camilla Hessellund Lastein.

Levon Biss

But there's a reason this is a list of people and not companies: startups fail all the time. Like many of her Under 30 peers Hassellund Lastein has been through it and come out the other side better for it. She started her company Lix after learning that only 2% of textbooks are digitized. Her subscription-based digital textbook app provides "the convenience of having the book wherever you go.” Lix has raised $7.5 million from investors, including Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen. And it has convinced major publishers such as McGraw and Pearson to digitize their libraries.

"But I wouldn't be without that experience, because it taught me so much," explains Hassellund Lastein. "If you don't feel in your gut that this is the right partnership... don't do it."

Hassellund Lastein is just one of 30 innovative ventures on this year's Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs list using business acumen to make an lasting impact on the world. The list was judged by a blue-ribbon panel of judges: Alexandre Mars, Founder and CEO of the Epic Foundation; Randall Lane, Chief Content Officer of Forbes Media; and Karen Dolva, Cofounder and CEO of No Isolation. Here are the inspiring startups to keep an eye on in 2019:

Creating pathways to employment for ex offenders:  There’s few things more frustrating than a cracked phone screen. But Josh Babarinde, 25, is turning that problem into an opportunity through his smartphone repair service staffed by ex-offenders and at-risk youth. The company provides employment and training to this group of individuals typically systematically blocked out of upward mobility.

Keeping students connected: Sweden-born Anders Krohn, 26, floated between five different universities before finally dropping out. So, alongside Adrian Franklin, 28, and Oliver Nicolini, 28, he founded Aula, a Slack-like communications platform for higher education that aims to create a more engaged university environment. The company, which is backed by Brighteye Ventures and MassChallenge, boasts a diverse team made up of 15 nationalities and plans to move into the US and Australian market in 2019.

Designing new lines of communication: Both of 23-year-old Jari Hazelebach’s parents are deaf and throughout his youth he watched them struggle to follow conversations through traditional methods like reading lips. So the Dutch entrepreneur invented SpeakSee, a small and sleek speech recognition device that can accurately transcribe group conversations in real time on a smartphone, laptop or tablet. Currently 47% of deaf individuals are not employed, and his technology could prove to be a major asset in breaking down barriers to entry.

Making bags with purpose: German entrepreneurs Marco Feelisch, 25, and Georg Wolff, 29, met while working for startup incubator Rocket Internet in Pakistan. After the venture they were working on sold to Alibaba, they decided to create their own company: a direct-to-consumer brand creating leather bags for men. The company its own fair production unit in Karachi and donates a percentage of profits send girls to the Anum School in Pakistan.

What to read about more social impact companies? Check out the full Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Social Entrepreneur list.


Follow me on Twitter. Send me a secure tip.

As an associate editor at Forbes, I cover young entrepreneurs and edit the 30 Under 30 lists. I'm particularly interested in companies finding unique ways to make our wo...