No disrespect to Silicon Valley, but there are a lot of global startups that deserve recognition located all over the world. Whether they’re using big data to assist retailers or using technology to save the world, here are just 25 of these startups and their founders that you should be paying attention to.
1. Michael Galvin
Michael Galvin, along with Eduardo Martinez, has founded Olivo, a company focused on creating innovative businesses, and GENIAC. GENIAC is a London-based startup that is an integrated platform that handles HR, legal, accounting, and insurance services for startups and SMEs.
2. Fabien Cohen
Fabien Cohen is a Paris-based entrepreneur who has previously founded the “pigeons” movement, Whoozer app, and PriceBuzz. His recent project is happn, a location-based mobile dating app which allows users to create connections that are based on real-time interactions.
3. Eugenio Pandolfi
As the General Manager of the Hotel Giulio Cesare, Eugenio Pandolfi had plenty of experience in the industry when he founded ZenSuite in 2013. The Roncade, Italy-based SaaS startup allows hoteliers to create websites, manage social media accounts, accept online reservations, receive online payments, and manage room inventory.
4. Stefan Kellner
This Berlin-based tech guru has co-founded the companies 7Moments and Plazes, which was acquired by Nokia. He’s recently been a part of allryder, an app that lets you compare public transportation timetables, prices, and durations for various routes and modes of transport.
5. Pablo Viguera
Pablo was an investment banker with Merrill Lynch, in London, before becoming Entrepreneur in Residence for Rocket Internet GmbH in Southwest Asia. In 2013 he launched the Madrid-based startup Groopify, which is a social club that sets-up get togethers for people who don’t know each other.
6. Ivan Mazour
Although he was born in Russia, Ivan Mazour now calls London his home. – but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten where he came from. In 2012 this Founding Partner of Innova Kapital founded Ometria. This e-commerce intelligence platform will be used by retailers to make sense of data.
7. Dino Paravandis and Constantine Nikitiadi
Dino Paravandis and Constantine Nikitiadi left their successful digital agency to found Rocketgraph in 2014. This Athens-based startup lets you visualize your cloud data in just a few clicks. Their marketplace for cloud reporting even allows you to find the Rocketgraph that best matches your needs.
8. Ole Vidar Hestås
After succeeding with previous startups IndustriData, Statsjobb, MobileAxept, and Tide Forsikring AS, Ole Vidar Hestås founded Kuddle in 2014. Oslo-based Kuddle has been called the “Instagram for kids,” where children can explore, learn, and understand the ever-expanding universe of social media in a fun and safe environment.
9. Michael Ma
This graduate from Tsinghua SEM created Beijing Peapad Education and Technology. As a part of Tsinghua University’s x-lab and Renmin University’s incubator program, the company helps Chinese children learn the English language with a real teacher from abroad through internet.
10. Leon Ho
Hong Kong’s Leon Ho is the founder of Lifehack, the popular blog that has been sharing practical tips since 2005.
11. Hoseok Ryu
Hoseok Ryu founded the mobile app MangoPlate in 2013. The app is used to offer personalized dining recommendations for 6,000 Seoul restaurants. The app is frequently included in the top 10 downloaded mobile applications by the foreign community.
12. Choong Fui-Yu and Jeffri Cheong
These two former lawyers became entrepreneurs after founding Kaodim. The startup is based in Malaysia and is an online marketplace used to find service professionals ranging from movers, plumbers, decorators, pest control specialists or yoga instructors.
13. Adi Suandharu
Adi Suandharu, a former consultant for Accenture, founded Sociocaster in 2014. Sociocaster aims to be the Hootsuite for Indonesia by being a brand management tool. Unlike Hootsuite, however, Sociocaster will offer all of its features on its free plan
14. Yasukane Matsumoto
Raksul is a Japanese startup founded by Yasukane Matsumoto in 2009. Raksul helps lower printing costs by connecting those who need printing services with printing companies by using its own algorithm to find the best price.
15. Arjun Zacharia, Praveen Rajaretnam, Soumen Sarkar & Ankit Sabharwal
These four former McAfee employees founded the Bangalore-based Wooplr in 2012 as a social network for sharing fashion photos. Wooplr is now a fashion-discovery platform that recently received a $5 million Series A funding round from Helion Ventures
16. Paul Lupson
This London native has also spent time in Barcelona, but now resides in Sydney, Australia. Over the years this IT professional has founded homein.com and LawPath, Australia’s largest and fastest growing legal platform, along with fellow IT professional Damien Andreasen.
17. Shalom Stark
In 2014 Shalom Stark launched not one, but two companies in Israel. Shalom Israel Tours provides visitors personalized private tours or group tours of Israel. Shalom also founded InvoiceNinja, an open-source solution for invoicing and billing customers.
18. Yasmine El-Mehairy
After discovering that there were no online resources for mothers in the Middle East, Egyptian Yasmine El-Mehairy created the pan-Arab parenting site SuperMama. The site contains everything fro cooking videos to pregnancy tips, written and created for specifically for Arabs.
19. Kahenya Kamunyu
In 2012 Kahenya Kamunyu founded Able Wireless. This on-demand Wireless Streaming Service Provider located in Kenya manufactures its own set-top box made from a modified Raspberry Pi that is also a wireless hotspot to deliver Internet access for customers for a mere $6 per month.
20. Neil du Preez
Neil du Preez is an experienced entrepreneur who has founded Riksha, a child mobility company, and most recently Mellowcabs. The Cape Town-based company manufactures, as well as operates, electric mini-cabs which provide an on-demand, flexible, and affordable taxi/transport service in cities.
21. Barbara Mallinson
Cape Town’s Barbara Mallinson has been recognized as one of the top entrepreneurs and African women in business by CNN, Forbes, IT Web Africa, and the Financial Mail. In 2007 she launched Obami, an innovative social learning platform that has been used by schools across Africa, Europe, and the United States.
22. Juan Carlos Guáqueta
This native of Colombia has founded Acuacare, which designs low-cost homes for residents of rural areas. The homes also come equipped with eco-friendly water treatment systems utilizing earthworms.
23. Ignacio Puig
Puig developed the online learning platform Acámica, which makes learning technology fun. The Argentina-based start-up primarily focuses on teaching web design and development
24. Victoria Alonsoperez
This 27 year-old electronics and telecommunications engineer from Uruguay, who has previously co-founded IEETech, founded the platform Chipsafer. Chipsafer is used to track and monitor the health of cattle.
25. Tales Gomes
Tales Gomes is a co-founder of Brazilian-based Plataforma Saude. The startup describes itself as “a social impact business that uses mobile technologies to provide quality healthcare for underserved communities with limited access to basic healthcare.”
