Stories Of Entrepreneurial Capitalism Across Our 38 International Editions

Across the planet, our 38 licensed editions span five continents, 25 languages and 13 time zones. They all share the same mission: celebrating entrepreneurial capitalism in all its forms.

ARGENTINA

Entrepreneur Eduardo Bastitta built Buenos Aires company Plaza Logística, which he cofounded in 2009, into a thriving $40 million business developing logistics and fulfillment centers. Up next: expansion to Uruguay and Colombia.

BRAZIL

Forbes Brasil’s new 50 Over 50 list features successful Brazilians whose careers keep climbing as they age. On the cover: longtime advertising executive Nizan Guanaes, 64, who now runs a consultancy that helps large businesses develop disruptive communication strategies.

BULGARIA

“Money cannot buy the truly valuable things in life. However, it is a good means to change the environment around us.”

CHILE

Venture capital investing in Chilean companies jumped from $160 million in 2020 to $2.9 billion in 2021, when two Chile-born firms reached unicorn status: plant-based dairy and meat startup NotCo and Uber-owned grocery deliverer Cornershop.

CHINA

Envision Energy fronts the latest issue as a member of the annual list of China’s best employers. The country’s second-largest wind turbine maker, Envision stands out for its sustainability efforts.

COLOMBIA

Mexican unicorn Kavak, valued at $8.7 billion, is arriving this year in Colombia, Peru and Chile, espousing transparency and efficiency in the used car market. CEO Carlos García Ottati cofounded the company in 2016.

ECUADOR

Ecuador’s “palm king,” Eduardo Berg, heads family company Danec Industries, the country’s largest producer of palm plants, which are used for oils and cleaning products. The firm employs nearly 5,000 and counts 90,000 customers.

FRANCE

The face of Forbes France’s fourth annual influential women issue, Virginie Delalande has been deaf since birth, became a lawyer and runs Handicapower, a business in which she coaches and speaks on topics relating to disabilities.

GEORGIA

From a team of three in 2018 including founder Vako Turnava, Tbilisi-based startup Sweeft Digital has grown to some 400 employees and $3 million in revenue (2021), deploying software development and marketing tools to customers in ten countries.

GERMANY

Since 2018, Weiterstadt-based startup Wingcopter has dispatched drones on four continents carrying medicine and other aid, including HIV treatments to Malawi. CEO and cofounder Tom Plümmer (center) announced a $42 million fundraise in June.

GREECE

In February, the Union of Greek Shipowners elected its first female president, Melina Travlos, chair of automotive carrier Neptune Lines. She will prioritize leading the shipping industry’s green transition.

HUNGARY

Kati Márton, a New York-based journalist, tells Forbes Hungary about fleeing her homeland at age 8 and her journalist parents, who reported on war crime trials and were imprisoned in 1955 on espionage allegations.

INDIA

Gaurav Munjal (center) is tasked with resolving alleged “toxic culture” at his Bengaluru test-prep startup, Unacademy, which has soared to a $3.4 billion valuation since it started as a YouTube channel in 2010. What won’t change: long hours, a requisite if you want to make history, he says.

INDONESIA

Domestic travel experiences and large-scale international events—such as the annual G20 meeting, which will be held in Bali for the first time in November—are priorities for recovery from the pandemic, says Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, Indonesia’s minister for tourism and creative economy.

ISRAEL

Actress Noa Tishby has worked on the big screen with Hollywood stars including Scarlett Johansson and director Michael Bay. She fronts Forbes Israel’s Power Women issue for her latest role—as Israel’s first special envoy for combatting antisemitism.

ITALY

Iris Ceramica Group, which makes porcelain and ceramic tiles, plans to open a new hydrogen-powered factory by the end of the year. Federica Minozzi heads the firm, founded by her billionaire father, Romano Minozzi, in 1961.

JAPAN

Since 2019, retail billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has randomly chosen 1,100 people to receive about $9,000 apiece to see if money would make them happier. He says recipients reported increases in average working hours and positive motivation.

KAZAKHSTAN

Bulbul Kartanbayeva became the first Kazakh to play in North America’s Premier Hockey Federation, the women’s professional ice hockey league, in 2019. Now the 28-year-old trailblazer is grooming her country’s next generation at the women’s hockey academy she established in Nur-Sultan.

LATVIA

Inga Pudža, a research assistant at the University of Latvia, won a L’Oréal-UNESCO award for young women in science last year. She studies copper molybdate, which changes color in response to temperature and could be used to monitor proper cold storage for vaccines.

MEXICO

L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus, who previously led Mexico operations for the cosmetics giant, visited Mexico City this year in celebration of the brand’s 60th year there. His three key business takeaways from the pandemic: “more digital, more health and more sustainability.”

MONGOLIA

Based in Ulaanbaatar, Uguuj Chikher Boov makes more than 120 different kinds of packaged sweets, totaling 60% to 70% of the country’s pastry production. Gereltuya Tumengerel heads the business, which her father bought in 1997.

PANAMA

Central American nations are drafting a mobility and logistics plan that would optimize trade among 36 ports, including the Panama Canal. Francisco Lima Mena, secretary general of SIECA, an economic NGO, says the plan could enhance regional competitiveness.

PERU

Peruvian edtech Talently raised a $3 million seed round last year as it provides training and job placement for Latin American tech talent. “We want to position Latin America as a place where the best software in the world is made,” says CEO Doménica Obando.

POLAND

Ekoenergetyka, a company headquartered in western Poland’s Zielona Góra, did about $35 million in 2021 revenue. Cofounder Bartosz Kubik expects to install its electric vehicle charging stations in the U.S. in the next year.