Women-Led Startups Shine at Aurora Tech Awards 2025 in Cairo

It was quite a show over in Cairo recently, as the Aurora Tech Awards 2025 celebrated some of the most innovative women-led startups from around the world. Held as part of Entreprenelle’s ever-inspiring SHE CAN conference and backed by the global mobility company inDrive, this tech awards season is proving to be one for the books.

With over 2,000 hopeful teams applying from no fewer than 116 countries, whittling it down to ten finalists wasn't an easy take, I’m quite sure. The shortlisted ventures had the challenging task of pitching their ideas directly to a panel made up of investors, government representatives, and seasoned business pros. As well as cash prizes, the most exciting part of the event was probably seeing the matchmaking unfold—founders getting a shot not only at prize money but also at connections with influential investors and potential partners.

And what good news for the local ecosystem! inDrive announced they'd be teaming up with Entlaq, an Egyptian organisation dedicated to nurturing early-stage startups. Through this partnership, entrepreneurs will receive mentoring, infrastructural support, and, crucially, easier access to funding. Any readers who keep tabs on Arageek will no doubt recognise the importance of these kinds of alliances in boosting the entrepreneurial scene.

One particularly bright highlight of the event—and certainly something the local community can hold proud—was Egypt’s own Salma Medhat, founder of Hiryo, who snagged a Special Recognition Award. With personal safety continuing to be a global priority, Hiryo’s innovative app helps to ensure people's wellbeing by allowing them to share real-time updates about public spaces, making cities safer and more transparent for everyone. Hats off to Salma—well deserved!

Taking home the top prize of $30,000 was Solape Akinpelu from Nigeria. Her startup, HerVest, tackles financial inclusion by providing African women—especially those in farming communities—access to savings options, affordable credit, and investment opportunities. An invaluable lifeline, particularly considering the unique challenges facing smallholder farmers.

Coming in second place with a fairly cool $20,000 was Chile's Loretxu Garcia Arraztoa, whose startup, Nido Contech, develops eco-friendly building materials. Clearly, sustainability made quite the impact on the jury, and rightly so.

Third prize of $15,000 went to Shreya Prakash from India for FlexiBees, a platform bridging businesses with experienced female professionals, ideal for companies keen on tapping into skilled talent with flexibility and remote working in mind—certainly a boon for many working mums.

Fourth place, with a handy sum of $10,000, was scooped by Colombia’s Laura Velásquez Herrera and her startup Arkangel AI, a nifty service that leverages artificial intelligence to allow earlier detection of preventable diseases without user needing coding skills.

Also grabbing $10,000 in fifth place, Switzerland’s Leonie Korn convinced the jury with UpLeap, an AI-based education tool, providing interactive simulations perfect for medical training, something many prospective doctors would certainly appreciate.

Events like these offer a great reminder of the creativity, resilience, and sheer talent coming from all corners of the globe—especially from women entrepreneurs breaking barriers in the tech space. With such fantastic projects in the limelight, we’ve got plenty of reasons to feel quietly optemistic about the future of tech innovation.

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