Austin has spent years cultivating its status as a boomtown for rising talent, and the latest Forbes 30 Under 30 shows it.

Austinites were represented in almost every category of the list, which includes 600 people across 20 categories. This year’s list focused heavily on influencers, founders, athletes, and innovators. 

As Gen Z has begun to heavily populate the list, there is a distinct trend of influencer and online culture across all categories. 

With Austin being one of the list’s headlining cities, here are five Austin residents who made the cut and more on how Texas’ capital became well-represented. 

Austin was a top city in this year’s 30 under 30

For the first time, Austin was one of the top five cities featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list — the others being New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 

There are myriad reasons why Austin now features so prominently on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, but the influx of industry rapidly transforming the city is undoubtedly a key factor. 

From newly arrived companies like Oracle, Tesla, and SpaceX to long-established ones such as Dell, Whole Foods, and Kendra Scott, Austin is now one of the most opportunity-rich metro areas in the country.

This, paired with a growing population largely defined by younger professionals, has helped redefine how Austin is seen on the national stage.

Alec Nguyen & Austin (Hung) Nguyen – Education

The two Lawrence University graduates, Alex Nguyen and Austin “Hung” Nguyen, are the founders of Afforai. The Austin-based company is a digital workspace meant to facilitate writing and researching. 

On the workspace, artificial intelligence helps you write, cite and research content for an array of assignments and tasks. The two now boast 100,000 followers and, according to Forbes, projected 2024 revenue is expected to be $1.5 million thanks to enterprise clients like Northern Arizona University’s College of Nursing.

Gabby Thomas – Sports

At 27 years old, very few can claim a resume as diverse and impressive as Gabby Thomas. The recent Austinite earned her undergraduate degree in neurobiology and global health at Harvard University.

In 2020, she enrolled in a master’s program at the University of Texas, where she completed a degree in public health with a capstone project in sleep epidemiology in May 2023.

All of this alone would be impressive; however, Thomas did all of this while becoming an Olympic sprinter and earning six medals at the competition — including three golds in Paris.

Golloria George – Social Media

Golloria George is a beauty influencer who has amassed 2 million followers on TikTok alone. She is known for promoting makeup inclusivity and has worked with major brands like Patrick Ta, Rhode and Texas favorite Tecovas. 

George arrived in the U.S. from South Sudan when she was five and, at 23, is now one of the most influential beauty creators on social media.

Evelyn Duan – Finance

While Austin might not be known as a finance city, Evelyn Dylan and Sixth Street Growth are working to change that. Already the Vice President, Duan has as focused her work at Sixth Street on investing in Software companies. This includes Bloomreach, SnapLogic and Heap — each of which have a valuation of $1 billion or more. 

Duan, another first-generation immigrant on this list, uses her experience to mentor international students through Ascend Mentoring.

Kent (Jingxu) Zheng – Science

Kent “Jingxu” Zheng is another UT Austin addition, although he is a professor rather than a former or current student. 

Now Zheng is developing lithium-free batteries designed to be more affordable, environmentally friendly, and sustainable. He has created “textured electrodes” made from zinc and aluminum, enabling exceptional battery rechargeability.

His research also focuses on utilizing cost-effective materials like iron and water-based electrolytes to produce high-performance batteries.

Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email Bsalgado@gannett.com.