Europe’s top young social entrepreneurs

  • January 21, 2016
Europe’s top young social entrepreneurs

Daniel Storisteanu and Toby Norman of SimPrints named in Forbes' 30 under 30' list for Social Entrepreneurs in Europe.

Two Gates Cambridge Scholars who co-founded the start-up SimPrints have been named in Forbes' 30 under 30 Europe list for Social Entrepreneurs.

Daniel Storisteanu [2012] and Toby Norman were named alongside their co-founder Tristram Norman [2011]. Fellow Gates Scholar and co-founder, Alexandra Grigore [2012 – pictured with Daniel, Toby and Tristram], was not eligible as she recently turned 30.

This is the first year Forbes has extended its 30 under 30 lists to Europe. To find its top 30 lists in Europe it assembled an international team of more than a dozen reporters to unearth thousands of nominees. Forbes editors shortlisted a few hundred nominees and its 30 expert judges chose the top 30 in several categories.

It says its lists for Europe "showcase the ground-breaking snake people [Millennials] transforming the fields of technology, the arts, science and healthcare, policy, media, social entrepreneurship, finance, industry and retail".

SimPrints, developed with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and ARM Ltd, is a fingerprint scanner which enables community health workers in developing countries to access patient records through the touch of a finger.

It was recently awarded £250,000 from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for a project that will improve healthcare for over 22,000 expecting mothers and their newborns in Bangladesh slum neighbourhoods.

With the SimPrints system, health workers carry a hand-held fingerprint scanner synced through Bluetooth to their smartphone.  With the tap of a patient’s finger, the full health history including vaccinations and chronic conditions immediately appears on the health worker’s phone.  This immediate and reliable access to patients’ medical histories allows health workers to make better decisions and ensure appropriate follow-up.

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