Forbes - USA (2020-10)

FORBES.COM

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Social distancing favors

contactless payment, and

the MB Way app created by

Lisbon-based SIBS and CEO

Madalena Tomé fi nds its

2.6 million users make

4.5 million purchases per

month (growing 26% online

early in the pandemic).

Valikhan Ten heads

World Class Almaty, a

32,000-square-foot fi tness

club, and he believes

30% of his industry will not

survive the pandemic.

Tennis prodigy Daniil

Medvedev, 24, debuts

on Forbes Russia’s 40

Under 40 list. Part of his

$10.2 million 2019 income

came from the U.S. Open

fi nal, a fi ve-hour batt le

he lost to Rafael Nadal.

GymBeam, an online store

for vitamins and activewear,

saw sales soar during

lockdown and completed

a $7 million funding round

to open physical spaces in

Budapest and Prague. “We

are incredibly lucky to be

among the very small per-

centage of companies that

the corona helped rather

than harmed,” says Slovak

founder Dalibor Cicman.

Aft er a pandemic-induced dry spell,

15 companies debuted on South Korea’s

tech-focused KOSDAQ stock exchange

in July, including Saltlux, a 20-year-old

soft ware company whose products are

used by Hyundai, Samsung and others.

“Africa will need its young

people and entrepreneurs

to be as resilient as possible

in the face of this crisis,”

says Astria Fataki. The

Forbes Afrique 30 Under

30 honoree is the founder

of Energy Generation, a

trade school and business

accelerator in Togo’s

capital, Lomé.

By 2025, Bangkok-based

Siamgas expects rev-

enue of about $3.5 billion

through its subsidiary

gas stations and power

plants.

Lockdown saw book

sales drop 70%, prompting

calls on the government

to prioritize book-purchase

vouchers over digital

education devices.

LATVIA

SLOVAKIA

TOGO

THAILAND

MEXICO

RUSSIA

SPAIN

UAE

JAPAN

ROMANIA

KAZAKHSTAN

PORTUGAL

POLAND

SOUTH AFRICA

UKRAINE

VIETNAM

ISRAEL ITALY

Alessandro Maria Ferreri,

a luxury retail exec, and

Marco Bonaldo, an olive oil

mogul, have merged their

talents to create a line of

oils and vinegars sold in

high-end containers,

including Swarovski crystal.

Clew is one Israeli startup helping

U.S. hospitals combat the corona-

virus. Its predictive AI soft ware

creates ICU control rooms in which

medical staff can remotely monitor

vitals and prioritize patients.

Nearly 40 destinations, including

Valencia’s beaches, resolve to adopt

technological tools—such as smart

buoys to monitor water quality and

drones to surveil crowds—for safe

tourism in the coronavirus era.

The face of Forbes

Ukraine’s Self-Made

Women package:

26-year-old tennis

phenom Elina Svitolina.

One in eight pairs of feet

now wears shoes from

Vietnam, as manufacturers

such as Adidas and Nike

seek cheaper costs.

Khaled Al Qubaisi is the

executive at Abu Dhabi–

based Mubadala who

led the investment fund’s

$1.2 billion investment in

Jio Platforms, an Indian

telecom.

“I haven’t had the oppor-

tunity of being served break-

fast by my husband ever,”

says Shilpa Sehgal, a VC

partner in Mumbai who has

been married 19 years. The

Sehgals are one of seven

Indian couples who shared

their stories in a package

about how Covid-19 is

changing traditional roles.

INDIA

OCTOBER 20 20

Cox Energy CEO Enrique

Riquelme pulled off a

Mexican rarity: an energy

IPO, raising $36 million.

Two pro hockey teams

in Russia practice with a

suitcase-sized robot that

spits pucks for passing and

shooting drills. Riga-based

Winmill and its young foun-

der, Mārtiņš Marenis, are

developing a similar device

for baseball squads at Penn

State and Northwestern.

“What has spread is deeply

related to humans’ social

structure,” says Toshio Taka-

torige, professor at Kansai

University’s School of Social

Safety Sciences. He warns

that factories, closed-air

spaces and sprawling down-

towns will make full corona-

virus recovery diffi cult.

Mandated schooling from

home pushed 10-year-old

Kraków-headquartered

social learning app Brainly

to its goal of 250 million

users. Founder Michał

Borkowski’s next assign-

ment: gett ing them to pay.

Forbes Africa calls Covid-19

“the ultimate disruptor” for

spurring innovation, from

pivots like Tshepo Jeans

designing denim masks to

ideas like Akim Holdings’

walk-through booth that

sprays disinfectant mist.

As a growing middle class

has more money to spend

on their homes, Hermanto

Tanoko is planning an IPO

for Avian Brands, the paint

manufacturer his parents

started in 1962.

INDONESIA

SOUTH KOREA