Discover the Aurora Award 2025 winners, five exceptional women entrepreneurs in technology who are making a profound impact in key sectors on a global scale.
The 2025 Edition of the Aurora Tech Award concluded with the recognition of five outstanding female tech entrepreneurs during the grand final event held in Cairo.
This international competition brought together the 10 finalists selected from over 2,000 candidates, all competing for the prestigious awards that highlight the tangible impact their startups have in emerging markets.
High-Impact Finalists
Pioneering innovators from regions such as MENA, LATAM, Central Asia, and APAC were among the finalists, representing startups in sectors like artificial intelligence, fintech, and health technology.
The 2025 edition of the award set a new record, with 2,018 applications from 116 countries, doubling the participation of the previous year.
Isabella Ghassemi-Smith, Director of the Aurora Tech Awards, shared:
“The Aurora Tech Award is not about representation for the sake of representation; it is about supporting founders with the greatest potential who are building real businesses. These women are not here because of their gender. They are here because they are building companies that investors should care about. If the table was not built for them, they didn’t wait for an invitation—they built their own. Aurora exists to ensure they receive the capital, platform, and network they need to take their ventures further.”
First Place: Solape Akinpelu, founder of HerVest (Nigeria), a fintech platform that provides underserved women with access to savings, impact investing, and credit, with a particular focus on female farmers.
Second Place: Loretxu Garcia Arraztoa, from Nido Contech (Chile), who develops nature-inspired materials to reduce costs and environmental impact in the construction industry.
Third Place: Shreya Prakash, co-founder of FlexiBees (India), a platform that connects professional women with businesses through flexible, project-based, and remote work models.
Fourth Place: Laura Velásquez Herrera, founder of Arkangel AI (Colombia), whose AI solution enables the early detection of diseases using algorithms derived from medical data, with no coding required.
Fifth Place: Leonie Korn, from UpLeap (Switzerland), who leads an AI platform focused on enhancing medical training through interactive simulations.
Evgenia Matrosova, Growth Director and Head of Ride-Hailing at inDrive, commented:
“Supporting women entrepreneurs in overcoming barriers and building strong networks is crucial. Through the Aurora platform, our aim is to attract future investments, increase visibility, and foster strategic partnerships. Our mission is to drive systemic change in emerging markets like MENA, closing the gender investment gap. The Aurora Tech Award is not just an accolade, but a springboard for the next generation of unicorn founders.”
Support and Global Visibility
The five winners will receive cash prizes of $30,000, $20,000, and $15,000 for first, second, and third place, and $10,000 for fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Additionally, all finalists will gain access to strategic investors, industry leaders, and key experts, as well as inDrive’s global network and resources to accelerate their growth and international expansion.
The final stage of the competition took place during the regional SHE CAN conference, organized by Entreprenelle, an Egyptian organization dedicated to empowering women through education and business support.
Since its inception in 2015, SHE CAN has grown into one of the most influential events in the MENA region, with over 7,000 annual attendees.
For more details on the winners of the 2025 Aurora Tech Award, visit Auroratechaward.com
