Four Indian firms appear on the coveted longlist for the Aurora Tech Award

The annual prize, a non-profit project of inDrive, received a record-breaking 2,018 applications from 116 countries, tripling the number of submissions last year.

Four Indian firms, Aica Health, Dzylo, MAMMA-MIYA, and Tech4Good Community, have made it onto the longlist for the prestigious Aurora Tech Award. The Aurora Tech prize is an annual prize and non-profit project of inDrive, a worldwide mobility and urban services platform that recognises the most daring and ambitious female innovators in emerging countries. The longlist contained the top 120 founders for 2025. The number of top candidates will be disclosed in February 2025, with winners recognised in a global event later that year.

Manishaa Soin founded Aica Health, a health-tech business that uses AI to monitor chronic medical diseases and provide integrated geriatric care at home. Dzylo, co-founded by Anita Tailor, is an AI-powered SaaS platform that empowers interior designers and helps them establish companies. Similarly, MAMMA-MIA uses an AI-powered co-pilot to help moms balance productivity and well-being. Tech4Good Community was included on the list for creating Flake, an open-source data management tool for non-technical users that improves NGO IT skills.

This year’s prize received a record 2,018 applications from 116 nations, more than double last year’s total. The program also received further assistance from venture capital companies, with the number of VC partners growing from 23 to 35. Notably, this year’s list includes new partners from Egypt, Brazil, and Pakistan, demonstrating the award’s expanding worldwide awareness and objective.

“The Aurora Top 120 is new for us this year, resulting from a three-month open call that received over 2,000 applications from female founders. We picked 120 outstanding female entrepreneurs who are establishing daring and creative enterprises in emerging areas after a rigorous screening process. Isabella Ghassemi-Smith, Head of the Aurora Tech Awards, stated that these entrepreneurs are positioned to affect the future of their sectors and nations, making them the ones to watch in 2025.

Healthtech emerged as the dominant category among Aurora’s Top 120, demonstrating a global focus on healthcare innovation, with 30 companies active in this industry.

Furthermore, agritech and edtech remained very significant, while the e-commerce environment looks to be shifting toward more dynamic market models. There are just a few renewable energy firms, including one from Colombia and another from Iraq. The majority of HR IT startups are based in Brazil, with Singapore coming in second and one from the United Kingdom.

The increasing engagement of women in business is a significant global trend. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), women’s startup activity rates increased from an average of 6.1% (2001-2005) to 10.4% (2021-2023) in 30 nations.

Emerging markets are seeing even more momentum. WE-FI research shows that 17% of working-age women in emerging nations are already entrepreneurs, with another 35% hoping to be. In comparison, high-income nations report just 9% involvement and 14% ambition rates. This move has sparked worldwide VC interest in emerging economies. In 2023, developing economies garnered 17% of worldwide VC investment, demonstrating their resiliency. Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital continue to invest in businesses in India, Latin America, and elsewhere, fueling significant development.

Startups formed or co-founded by women outperform their male counterparts in terms of revenue efficiency. BCG research demonstrates that female-led firms produce 78 cents of revenue for every dollar of capital, compared to 31 cents for male-led ventures. Over five years, they also generated 10% more total revenue—$730,000 against $662,000 (MassChallenge 2019).

On a local level, women-owned enterprises drive economic development and inspire future generations. ProMujer reports underscore the crucial role that female entrepreneurs play in building communities and breaking down barriers, emphasizing their long-term societal impact.

The Aurora Tech Award honours the bravest and most ambitious female innovators in developing markets, providing more than simply recognition. It gives them access to knowledge, resources, and revolutionary possibilities to grow their enterprises and change the future. Award recipients receive mentorship, fundraising and pitching advice, assistance in creating pitch decks, and validation of their work. They also engage with investors, venture capital funds, and public relations firms, gaining access to crucial networks and resources that will help them succeed.

About the project

The Aurora Tech Award is a non-profit project by inDrive, a worldwide mobility and urban services platform. The Aurora Tech Award recognizes women tech company entrepreneurs whose ideas have had a significant influence on global development. The goal is to help women entrepreneurs, especially in the field of advanced technologies. 

inDrive is a worldwide transportation and urban services platform. The drive app has been downloaded over 200 million times and was the second most popular mobility app in 2023. In addition to ride-hailing, inDrive offers a growing number of urban services such as intercity transportation, freight delivery, task support, and courier delivery. In 2023, inDrive established New Ventures, a venture and M&A arm.

InDrive works in over 700 cities across 46 countries. Driven by its purpose to challenge social injustice, the firm aims to positively touch the lives of one billion people by 2030. It works toward this aim both through its primary company, which helps local communities through a fair pricing strategy, and inVision, its non-profit arm. InVision’s community empowerment programs support education, sports, arts and sciences, gender equality, and other critical efforts.

For additional information, visit www.inDrive.com.