World Of Forbes: Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 43 International Editions

FRANCE

French activist Julia Faure wants to take on fast-fashion giants like Shein and others whose production methods allegedly damage the environment. She is president of En Mode Climat, a 500-member network of textile brands and factories that encourages sustainable fashion production.

GEORGIA

Tbilisi-based foundation Educare Georgia has raised about $870,000 since 2017 from 5,000 donors for its Charte.ge initiative. Providing more than 2,500 students with laptops and internet access, the project promotes digital connectivity as the great equalizer of education and opportunity.

GERMANY

Retired Formula 1 champion driver Nico Rosberg is making a name as an investor. The native of Wiesbaden launched a fund called Rosberg Ventures in April, raising $32 million.

GREECE

Construction company Intrakat had revenue of $450 million in 2023 and acquired fellow Athens developer Aktor SA for north of $100 million plus debt. CEO Alexandros Exarchou is working on plans to expand into banking, energy storage and more.

HUNGARY

After two years of growth, Hungary saw a 60% drop in startup capital investments in 2023. A leading factor: SEON’s sky-high $94 million Series B back in 2022. The antifraud business led by Tamás Kádár has customers including London-based financial services firm Revolut and airline AirFrance-KLM.

INDIA

Joy Alukkas’ fortune grew $1.6 billion in 2023 to $4.4 billion thanks to higher revenue of his jewelry retailer, Joyalukkas Group. The business, which plans to open 25 new stores this year, started as a single shop in Abu Dhabi in 1988 and now has 160 global outlets.

ISRAEL

Forbes Israel interviews 30 Under 30 list honoree Suleiman Maswadeh, a 28-year-old Palestinian political correspondent for the Israeli public broadcaster KAN. He explains how delivering important news to all audiences motivates him amid insults and death threats.

ITALY

Nicoletta Luppi has been breaking gender norms at pharmaceutical giant MSD since she joined the company as its first female scientific representative in 1993. Today, she’s the company’s first female president and CEO.

KAZAKHSTAN

Forbes Kazakhstan 30 Under 30 alumni Adilkhan Rakhimbekov (right) and Azat Zhasulan operate six Abay Academy tutoring centers across Almaty and Astana, serving 5,000 youth and adult students. They generated $1.5 million in 2023 revenue.

POLAND

Dariusz Grzeszczak cofounded and heads the 34-year-old construction company Erbud, based in Warsaw. Its MOD21 brand had $12 million in 2023 revenue from producing modular, emissions-free wooden buildings that have been erected as schools and refugee housing.

PORTUGAL

Luís Figo tells Forbes Portugal how his time on the soccer field helped him “score goals” in the business world. Since winning the coveted Ballon d’Or in 2000, the former F.C. Barcelona and Real Madrid player has invested in industries including hospitality, fashion, technology and real estate.

ROMANIA

Forbes Romania highlights the country’s 50 most influential women. Number one on the list: Anca Vlad, founder and president of Fildas-Catena Group, a pharmaceutical company with a $1.2 billion (revenue) distribution business and a pharmacy network of more than 800 units.

SLOVAKIA

Forbes Slovakia publishes a list of the country’s top 75 physicians. One of them, a gynecologist from Bratislava named Vladimír Ferianec, has been featured in American and Japanese medical journals for an experimental hormone injection administered through a pregnant mother’s umbilical cord to treat a tumor in the fetus.

SOUTH AFRICA

Forbes Africa’s 10th anniversary 30 Under 30 list includes 25-year-old South African actress Ama Qamata, who starred in the 2020 Netflix hit series Blood and Water. “What we offer, the world has not seen yet,” she says of Africa’s raw talent.

SOUTH KOREA

Jong W. Lee leads Zeus, the semiconductor cleaning equipment provider his father founded in 1970. As a second-generation CEO, Lee has successfully led the acquisition of a robotic business division as well as overseas partnerships accelerating the company’s expansion into the U.S.

SPAIN

Natalia “Nathy” Peluso’s announcement of a second studio album is music to the ears of her 5.5 million monthly Spotify listeners. With this new LP drop, the singer-songwriter, who was born in Argentina and raised in Spain, could be on track to win her second Latin Grammy.

THAILAND

Forbes Thailand features Suriyon Sriorathaikul, managing director of his family’s six-decade-old jewelry manufacturer, Beauty Gems Group. The Bangkok-based company has around 3,000 employees and a jewelry collection designed by the Princess of Thailand.

UKRAINE

Oleksandr Yatsenko, principal at private equity firm Smok Ventures, says around 35% of the firm’s investments this year may go to Ukrainian founders. After closing a $25 million fund in January, the Warsaw-based firm plans to invest in 35 startups from Eastern and Central Europe.

URUGUAY

“You don’t reach your dreams; you work for them.”

VIETNAM

Simexco, a network of 40,000 Vietnamese farmers, exported nearly 130,000 tons of coffee in 2023, bringing in more than $200 million in revenue and selling to customers such as Nestlé and Lavazza. The farmers have worked to reduce the use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.