Forbes Magazine ranks young Kiwi duo on '30 under 30' list for education

Jake Millar. Photo / File

Two young New Zealanders have been named on Forbes Magazine's "30 under 30" list of individuals in education to watch in North America.

Jake Millar and Yuuki Ogino are the founders of Unfiltered, a global education platform dedicated to disrupting the way people learn business and entrepreneurship.

Unfiltered offers video interviews with many of the world's most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, and has attracted 27 million video views as well as strategic partnerships with 30 companies including BMW and PwC.

Millar said the pair, who were former school mates, are blown away with the achievement.

"Making a Forbes' achievement list represents one of the most prestigious recognitions possible for movers and shakers making waves internationally," Millar said.

"We particularly love how Forbes identified Unfiltered as 'bringing access to and opportunity to the classroom and beyond' – we couldn't have put it better."

Unfiltered has spent the past year focusing on securing mass distribution rights in the United States, and in May the platform removed its paywall, creating open access to all content including interviews that feature advice from some of the most celebrated business minds in the world such as Sir Richard Branson, Tesla co-founder Ian Wright, former Microsoft CFO and now Trump administration deputy chief of staff – New Zealander Chris Liddell, Brandless co-founder Tina Sharkey, WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey, and Sequoia Capital founder Don Valentine.

"Yuuki Ogino has been with me throughout the entire Unfiltered journey and there is no way I could be doing what I do without his huge support," Millar said.

"While I may be the 'front man' in this production, I'm incredibly grateful he's been on this journey with me after I convinced him to drop out of engineering school at University of Canterbury and become an entrepreneur, much to his parents' horror."

Millar sold his previous business Oompher to the New Zealand government for a six-figure sum just nine months after he established it as a 19-year-old.