This year sees eight UCL alumni and one current student from fields such as architecture, fine art, mathematics, and corporate law placed on the leading list for entrepreneurs and creatives in Europe.
Every year, the Forbes’ Top 30 Under 30 list celebrates those who are making waves in their field across Europe – and in 2026, UCL celebrates the addition of nine students - former and current - from a range of specialisms.
This achievement reflects UCL’s thriving entrepreneurial community, which is boosting the UK economy by creating startups that attract millions of pounds of investment, creating jobs, and spearheading innovation. Currently, UCL has 568 active student startups that employ over 2,230 people and have raised £100m in external investment. (HEBCI 2025/25)
Angharad Milenkovic, Vice-President (Advancement) believes it’s the entrepreneurial drive that’s built into the fabric of UCL that encourages this.
All of our UCL talent on this prestigious Forbes list deserve huge recognition for their work. The range of disciplines represented is a testament to the drive and creativity fostered across UCL, and all of their incredible achievements show that UCL’s entrepreneurial community continues to grow and thrive. Congratulations to you all and we wish you all the best in the future.
Angharad Milenkovic, Vice-President (Advancement)
Here’s a closer look at some of the achievements of this year’s chosen nine
AI
Scientist Amy Locks (PhD Student, EPSRC-SFI CDT in Transformative Pharmaceutical Technologies) features on the list as Cofounder and CEO of Anzen Industries – a London-based biotech company that utilises enzymes to create chemicals used in common products such as food, medicines, and fragrances. Anzen Industries has raised over $2 million of pre-seed investment to allow the company to explore its biomanufacturing innovation at scale. This will help them to create resilient industrial supply chains by building its first manufacturing facility in the USA, opening up one of the world’s biggest chemical manufacturing markets.
Amy says: “Being on this list means a lot, but I want to be clear for anyone who reads it as unreachable that every skill that led me here I picked up in the last two years, and before that, I genuinely didn’t know what a startup was. The main career paths communicated with undergraduate and PhD students are mostly corporate, industry, or academic. Taking part in some of the workshops provided by UCL Innovation & Enterprise at the very start of my entrepreneurial journey helped me realise that the startup path is just as valid a career choice.”
Art & Culture
- Painter Okikioluwa (Okiki) Akinfe (BA Fine Art 2023) explores her Nigerian and British identity through fictionalisation, using it as a tool to create alternative archives and asserting historical importance. Her work focuses on rest as resistance while drawing on Renaissance painting and pop culture. Looking ahead, Okikioluwa has a debut institutional show at PEER London and a major solo project for Frieze London 2026.
Entertainment
- Issac Kamlish (MSc Machine Learning 2019 & BA Mathematics 2018) is cofounder of Equals – a social networking platform that builds connections around music. With 200,000 monthly active users in 2025, Equals allows people to make friends online through shared musical tastes. Users can share what they’re listening to in real-time, connect in chat rooms, and write reviews – putting music at the heart of fan connection online.
Manufacturing & Industry
- Founder and CTO of biotech company Novogaia, David Kubanek (MSc Machine Learning 2023) is driving the use of artificial intelligence to discover new medicines from natural sources. The company’s mission is to unlock a new era in drug discovery from fungi by using AI to uncover their molecular diversity and translate it into new therapeutic breakthroughs – starting with autoimmunity. Gaia-01, the current AI model, has already seen notable success and is now being tested in the lab to demonstrate how it can accelerate real-world discovery on Novogaia’s first set of drugs.
Retail & Ecommerce
- James Curtis (Grad Dip Architecture 2018) is cofounder of vacation rental operator Bocobay. Forging the business in 2020 against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, James and his brother Nick started by managing a single villa. Their portfolio grew to over 250 properties for 220 homeowners across three countries, hosting 30,000 guests in 2025 alone. Now with a $35 million annual revenue and a global team of 85, Bocobay is the exclusive branded operator for Caribbean resorts such as Sol de Arena and Palm Beach Jamaica.
Science & Health
While suffering from life-threatening sepsis, Dr Shuler Xu (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery 2022) experienced the true impact of delayed healthcare diagnosis. This transformative event led Dr Xu to set up Rapidx Bio, a medical manufacturer revolutionising ultrafast disease detection. The company has created a battery-powered device that can reduce the symptom-to-treatment cycle from the eight-day average to under 30 minutes. Rapidx Bio has raised $5 million and is rolling out its technology for use in the detection of sepsis, pneumonia, and, in combination with the World Health Organization, leprosy.
Dr Hamzah Selim (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery 2023) is Co-Founder and CEO of Mindstep. This brain-care app delivers clinical-grade assessment for conditions such as concussion, anxiety, depression, and dementia in less than 10 minutes by using eye-tracking technology. The company has raised more than $7 million from notable investors and has secured a partnership with health insurer AXA on an upgraded product that integrates data on health, claims, and services. With these huge leaps forward, Mindstep’s revenue is set to reach $1.4 million this year.
- Oleksandr Bondariev (Int MA Econ State & Soc w ref to C & E Eur & Rus 2021) started Pleso Therapy in his native Ukraine before rolling out across Poland, Romania, and now the UK. The mental health platform uses AI-powered pairing to match users with the most suitable therapists for their specific needs. During the invasion of Ukraine, Pleso Therapy rolled out free support and therapeutic groups for soldiers and refugees. Since its launch in 2021, more than 25,000 users have used the platform, with nearly 200,000 therapy sessions delivered. The company has attracted around $2.4 million in funding from investors and looks to reach $10 million in revenue this year.
Social Impact
- With a global professional audience of over 12,000 followers, Climate Court aims to make climate litigation transparent, accessible, and globally inclusive. Founded by Louise van Dijk (LLM Corporate Law 2020), the intelligence platform tracks and analyses climate-related lawsuits across jurisdictions. The aim is to empower researchers, advocates, and decision-makers to drive climate accountability and change - particularly focusing on those outside of the Global North. Corporate lawyer Loes van Dijk has a deep-rooted interest in the power that legal professionals have to influence companies to adopt more responsible practices from the inside out. The platform now informs major law firms and global companies, and Loes van Dijk works with NGOs and legal teams worldwide.
Want to know more?
This year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list highlights the sector-leading work that UCL alumni and students achieve across the world. UCL has a commitment to continue this pursuit of excellence and to make real-world positive change through pioneering innovation. UCL alumni can access entrepreneurship training and support for three years following their graduation. Find out more about UCL’s work in the field in the links below:
