- The Aurora Tech Award announced its Top 100 female tech founders to watch in the year 2026
- The award focuses on recognizing and supporting women tech founders from emerging markets
- This increase in applications corresponds to growing worldwide interest in women-led technology ventures
The Aurora Technology Award, the only award that recognizes the top female technology entrepreneurs around the world who are based in developing countries, has selected its “Top 100 Founders to Watch” for 2026.
The number of applications submitted this year increased significantly from last year, rising from 127 countries for 2,018 applicants in 2020 to a record 3,400 applications representing 127 countries in 2021.
Countries that submitted the largest number of applications include Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Colombia, Egypt, Brazil, India, Chile, Pakistan, and Mexico.
Healthtech continues to be the largest segment of the awards with a total of 23 health-focused start-ups in the wellness, digital medical tools, life sciences and sports technology categories. Agritech, edtech and fintech are also important areas of innovation.
Within these sectors, many start-ups are utilising emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain and IoT. A number of these venture businesses are also working within the framework established by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which is providing a higher degree of success and sustainability for their business models.
B2B (Business to Business) business models are the predominant business models in Chile, India and Peru. The region that is seeking the most investment is India, with the average investment needed at approximately $1.25 million, followed by Kenya, Colombia, Egypt and Nigeria. All other regions have average funding needs of below $500,000.
Winners of the Aurora Tech Award receive up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding, mentorship, access to global investor networks, and additional support for scaling their solutions.
The winners for 2025 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 Top 100 list represents the top three percent of applicants and showcases female founders creating meaningful, commercially viable solutions within their communities. Finalists for 2026 will be announced in February, with winners to be recognized later in the year at a global ceremony.
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