This is part 1 of an 11-part series.
The first part includes 30 names, a mix of start-up and corporate executives taken from a list of 112 business leaders that the the editorial team compiled. All of them have made news over the past 12 months (from 1 March 2021 to 11 April 2022).
They have either raised funds, seen the value of their start-ups rise, developed their business models, invested in new markets, financed projects, swallowed up competitors or sold their companies.