The Aurora Tech Award has unveiled its Top 100 founders to watch for 2026.
In a statement made available to The PUNCH, the company noted that this year, a record 3,400 applications were submitted from 127 countries, reflecting unprecedented growth from last year’s 2,018 submissions across 116 nations.
The Aurora Tech Award is a global award dedicated to supporting outstanding female tech founders from emerging markets. Winners receive up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding, tailored support and resources, and access to an industry-leading network of investors and experts.
The Top 100 highlights the global breadth of women-led innovation, with the highest number of applications coming from Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Colombia, Egypt, Brazil, India, Chile, Pakistan, and Mexico.
According to key sector trends, health tech remains the strongest sector across the top 13 countries represented.
This year’s cohort comprises 23 health-focused startups, continuing last year’s trend, in which health tech also led the field. Founders are tackling many aspects of this sector, including wellbeing, longevity, digital medical tools, productivity platforms, life sciences, sports tech and more. Along with health tech, agritech, and edtech, these sectors remain highly relevant, reflecting ongoing global demand and innovation. AI continues to expand rapidly across these solutions, paired with blockchain and IoT technologies. Additionally, this year saw a rise in fintech representation, with 19 fintech startups included in the Top 100. This increase is partly due to the introduction of a dedicated fintech track in partnership with inDrive.
HR tech applications were dominated by founders from Latin America, followed by those from Africa and the MENA region, while agritech entries, primarily from Africa and LATAM, remain focused on B2B business models. Edtech has also retained its relevance, with 18 startups demonstrating some of the highest adoption of AI-driven tools.
Across regions like Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, agritech and food tech startups stand out, highlighting both agricultural innovation and growing demand for energy solutions essential for the sector’s development.
The award organisers added that across all top countries, AI consistently emerges as a core enabling technology within the leading sectors, underscoring its role as a universal driver of innovation.
“From more than 3,400 applications, our Top 100 represent the top three per cent, truly exceptional founders. They are building commercially powerful, category-defining companies that solve real problems their communities and markets face. We are thrilled they chose to apply and proud to spotlight their impact,” said Head of the Aurora Tech Award, Isabella Ghassemi-Smith.
The statement added that two notable insights from this year’s applications include AI adoption in health tech and edtech as a standard component of product development and alignment of founders’ missions with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, signalling a shift toward impact-driven entrepreneurship.
Business model trends show a strong lean toward B2B, especially in Chile (84 per cent), India (79 per cent), and Peru (69 per cent), reflecting market maturity and demand for enterprise solutions.
The award’s open call also provides insight into how much capital early-stage founders are seeking across emerging markets. Startups from India are pursuing the highest average investment, at roughly $1.25m, followed by those in Kenya at around $840,000 and Colombia at approximately $620,000. Founders in Egypt seek close to $540,000, while those in Nigeria are looking for about $510,000 in funding. The least capital-seeking applicants come from Peru and Morocco, where founders are looking for approximately $300,000–$340,000 to grow their ventures.
The 2025 winners were Solape Akinpelu (HerVest, Nigeria) in first place, Loretxu Garcia Arraztoa (Nido Contech, Chile) in second, and Shreya Prakash (FlexiBees, India) in third, with Laura Velásquez Herrera (Arkangel AI, Colombia) and Leonie Korn (UpLeap, Switzerland) in fourth and fifth places, respectively.
The number of top finalists is set to be announced in February 2026, with the winners being celebrated at a global ceremony later in the year.
