Mountain View, Calif.: The Aurora Tech Award, the global award dedicated to supporting women-led technology startups in emerging markets, has announced its Top 100 Female Founders to watch for 2026.
The latest cohort was selected from a record 3,400 applications across 127 countries, reflecting strong year-on-year growth from 2,018 submissions received in 2025.
The Aurora Tech Award Top 100 showcases the global scale of women-driven innovation, with the highest number of applications coming from Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Colombia, Egypt, Brazil, India, Chile, Pakistan, and Mexico.
Women Startup Founders from India:
- Sonam Choudhary, TabyGen
- Tarini Padmanabhuni, Axory AI
- Vindhya Mehrotra, FERY RIDES
- Aishwarya Karnataki, Glovatrix Private Limited
- Ananya Grover, HealCycle Wellness
Aurora Tech Award Highlights Key Sector Trends Across Emerging Markets
Healthtech has emerged as the strongest-performing sector among the Top 100 founders, with 23 health-focused startups represented this year.
The sector continues to lead innovation, covering areas such as digital healthcare tools, wellbeing, longevity, life sciences, productivity platforms, and sports technology. Many founders are developing solutions rooted in local community needs, shaping region-specific innovation models.
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Alongside healthtech, agritech and edtech remain prominent sectors, reflecting sustained global demand. Fintech has recorded a notable rise this year, with 19 fintech startups included in the Top 100, supported by a dedicated fintech track introduced in partnership with inDrive.Money.
Founders in this segment are building solutions across financial inclusion, digital payments, lending, and broader fintech innovation.
HR tech applications were largely driven by startups from Latin America, followed by Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Agritech entries, primarily from Africa and Latin America, continue to focus on B2B business models, while edtech startups – 18 in total – demonstrated strong adoption of AI-powered tools.
In regions such as Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, agritech and foodtech startups stood out, underlining both agricultural advancement and the growing need for energy and infrastructure solutions supporting the sector.
Aurora Tech Award Reveals Global Patterns and Founder Insights
Across all represented regions, artificial intelligence continues to play a central role as a key enabling technology across sectors. AI adoption is particularly prominent in healthtech and edtech, where it has become a standard component of product development.
Applications also reflect a growing alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), signaling a broader shift toward impact-focused entrepreneurship.
Business model analysis shows a strong preference for B2B solutions, especially in Chile (84%), India (79%), and Peru (69%), indicating increasing demand for enterprise-grade offerings.
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Funding insights reveal varying capital requirements across regions. Startups from India are seeking the highest average funding at approximately $1.25 million, followed by Kenya at around $840,000 and Colombia at nearly $620,000.
Founders from Egypt and Nigeria are seeking about $540,000 and $510,000 respectively, while several countries – including Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Pakistan, Chile, and Kazakhstan – show more moderate funding needs below $500,000. Peru and Morocco report the lowest average capital requirements at approximately $300,000–$340,000.
Commenting on the announcement, Isabella Ghassemi-Smith, Head of the Aurora Tech Award, said, “From more than 3,400 applications, our Top 100 represent the top three percent – truly exceptional founders. They are building commercially strong, category-defining companies that address real challenges in their markets.”
Aurora Tech Award Strengthens Global VC and Investor Network
The Aurora Tech Award venture network now spans LATAM, MENA, Africa, and South Asia – regions representing nearly 70% of global emerging-market innovation hubs. The platform continues to enable investor access to high-potential female-led startups, facilitating downstream capital alignment across markets.
Beyond recognition, Aurora empowers founders with up to US$50,000 in non-dilutive funding, strategic support, and access to a global network of investors, operators, and experts. Winners also benefit from international visibility and media exposure, accelerating business scale and impact.
The previous Aurora Tech Award ceremony in Cairo celebrated standout founders from across emerging markets. The 2025 winners included Solape Akinpelu of HerVest (Nigeria), Loretxu Garcia Arraztoa of Nido Contech (Chile), Shreya Prakash of FlexiBees (India), Laura Velásquez Herrera of Arkangel AI (Colombia), and Leonie Korn of UpLeap (Switzerland).
The announcement of top finalists is scheduled for February 2026, with winners to be celebrated at a global awards ceremony later in the year.
Powered by inDrive, the Aurora Tech Award combines non-dilutive capital, investor access, and a global support ecosystem to act as a launchpad for the next generation of women-led, category-defining technology companies.
