Alex Eala, Zack Tabudlo + More Filipinos Make It to Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30 List

(SPOT.ph) From a tennis star making waves on the international stage to founders building startups and social initiatives, Filipinos are well represented in Forbes Asia's 30 Under 30 list for 2026.

According to Forbes, this year’s awardees are redefining the limits of their respective fields "at a time when AI is fast becoming ingrained in work and play." More than 10 Filipinos were recognized across nine entries, including several founders who made the list as part of teams.

Among them are Alex Eala and Zack Tabudlo, who make their way to the list under the Entertainment & Sports Category. Empath founder Steph Naval, Siklab Founder Saje Miguel Molato, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Youth Advocates Network (AYAN) founder Emmanuel Mirus Ponon fall in the Social Impact group.

Meanwhile, more Filipinos take up the room under the Retail & ECommerce: Fan Connection SEA founders Pauline Dizon and Adrian Jumangit; GoRocky founders Kiyanusch Braun (German) and Martin Joaquin Palaña; and Amico co-founder Kharl Christian Yeung. Additionally, BayaniChain Tech founders Brandon Angelo Wong and Raphael Sevilla are recognized for their breakthrough under the Consumer & Enterprise Technology section.

Also read: 15 Filipinos Rank on Forbes’ Billionaires List in 2025

She needs no introduction, but we'll give you one anyway. Alex Eala has sparked a tennis resurgence in the Philippines after rewriting history in different tournaments. After emerging into the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) Top 50 last year, she soared to the 29th spot—the highest rank that a Filipino player has ever held—before moving to the 44th spot in April 2026.

This Filipina had a phenomenal series of firsts: defeating two Top 10 players, reaching a WTA final, winning a Grand Slam main-draw match, and conquering the nation’s first Southeast Asian (SEA) Games women's singles gold since 1999.

As a product of the Rafa Nadal Academy, the 2022 U.S. Open girls' champion proves she is a dominant player just beginning to emerge. Oh, and did you know that she also first picked up her tennis racket at age 4?

Also read: Who Is Alex Eala, the Filipina Tennis Star Making Headlines Now?

P-pop sensation Zack Tabudlo's songs "Pano," "Give Me Your Forever," and "Habang Buhay" are top hits found in almost every Gen Z’s playlist, so it's not at all surprising that he was the most-streamed Philippine artist on Spotify in 2022.

Tabudlo found his big break in 2014 during the inaugural season of The Voice Kids at age 12. It was a full-circle moment when he returned as a coach, mentoring Sofia Mallares to a championship win in September 2025.

Zack Tabudlo has also been expanding beyond the Philippines. After going on a Southeast Asia tour in 2024, he signed with Mercury Records US in 2025, a Universal Music Group label whose roster includes Post Malone and Zayn Malik.

Also read: Zack Tabudlo Goes Global With Mercury Records

With backgrounds in software engineering and psychology, Steph Naval founded Empath, which provides accessible and affordable mental health services to over 40,000 Filipinos. The social enterprise offers online psychiatric consultations, psychotherapy, and counseling to workplaces, academic institutions, and non-profits.

As Naval struggled with mental health at 14 years old, she was motivated to build the mental health technology platform by her own experience.

She earned her degree in legal management, with minors in development management and literature, from Ateneo de Manila University. She is currently attending Avion School to learn more about software engineering.

Driven by the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, Saje Miguel Molato established Siklab in 2016 to enhance global youth competitiveness through collaborations with the corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors.

Siklab partnered with the United Nations Children's Fund, the National Youth Commission of the Philippines, and ING Group to create the Pathways Fellowship, an initiative that equips young entrepreneurs and founders with advocacy skills to sustain their ventures. Since then, Siklab has helped over 200,000 young people, organized literacy workshops for more than 15,000 children, and sponsored 200 youth representatives at global summits.

Molato is a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, where he obtained his degree in political science. He is also a Resolution Fellow, an alumnus of the Ateneo School of Governance, and a McCain Global Leader.

Promoting youth inclusion and civic engagement, Emmanuel Mirus Ponon founded AYAN, a youth-led non-profit organization that empowers young people across 10 Southeast Asian countries to participate in policymaking, peacebuilding, and the championing of sustainable development. 

Now with elevated voices in forums by the ASEAN, APEC, TEDx, and the United Nations, AYAN has reached more than 350,000 young people through leadership and advocacy programs.

Ponon earned his degree in economics from De La Salle University in 2023, where he achieved the Most Outstanding Leader award. Additionally, he completed his Master’s in cultural anthropology and development studies at KU Leuven and is now pursuing a second Master’s degree in international politics.

Aside from his inclusion in Forbes Asia's list, he has also been recognized in Common Purpose’s Global Legacy 25 Under 25 and the United Nations Asia-Pacific 30 for 2030.

Co-founded by Pauline Dizon and Adrian Jumangit during the pandemic, Fan Connection SEA (FanConSEA) is a fandom-centric business that specializes in merchandise licensing, bookings and live events. This dynamic duo invested in their personal savings with Southeast Asia as their target entertainment market.

FanConSEA President Dizon graduated as magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD), with a degree in industrial engineering. Afterward, she took a Master’s Degree in international commerce at Seoul National University, where she also graduated with honors. Meanwhile, Jumangit also graduated from UPD with a degree in Mathematics. 

Both Dizon and Jumangit are longtime fans who found a way to transform fandom energy into influential marketing and network strategies for brands and businesses across Southeast Asia. Their projects include Penshoppe BTS’ collection, Acer’s collaboration with Sandara Park, and UFC’s campaign with Kim Seon Ho.

In 2022, Kiyanusch Braun and Martin Joaquin Palaña launched the Philippines-based digital platform GoRocky to start and destigmatize conversations and treatment around men's health concerns, including hair loss and erectile dysfunction.

German national Braun first arrived in the Philippines in 2022, yet discovered the need to transform healthcare, especially with the prevalence of stigmatized men’s conditions. He decided to take action with Palaña, a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, who eventually became the chief commercial officer at GoRocky.

The startup began with promising confidentiality and convenience, which helped it attract over 30,000 customers among licensed physicians and pharmacies. In October 2025, GoRocky also raised $2 million through a funding round. By prioritizing privacy and accessibility, the startup has already connected over 30,000 users with certified physicians and pharmacies.

GoRocky also aims to expand with their newly founded capital by scaling operations beyond men's health, such as female hormonal imbalances, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

Kharl Christian Yeung is currently the co-founder and chief operating officer of pet food company Amico Innovations, which Monde Nissin acquired a majority stake in 2024.

In 2025, Amico introduced its debut product Vetra Savory Beef, targeting the high-end dog food market. Moreover, Amico also partnered with UP Los Baños in developing kibble formulations 

Yeung’s inclusion on the list also points to his background in startup growth and commercial strategy. Before Amico, he held roles at Globe Telecom’s 917Ventures and blockchain gaming platform Sovrun, experience that now feeds into his work in building a premium pet food brand.

Brandon Angelo Wong and Raphael Sevilla co-founded BayaniChain Tech with Paul Soliman, who is over 30. The company develops blockchain infrastructure for government and corporate use, with a focus on data security, transparency, and anti-corruption efforts.

In the beginning, BayaniChain Tech collaborated with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), marking the first time a national government agency in the Philippines used blockchain technology to verify budget records.

Aside from technical deployment, BayaniChain has actively contributed to advancing Philippine legislation in the hopes of protecting public funds through blockchain systems.