- Mercedes Bidart’s Quipu – which provides credit access to individuals and micro-businesses in emerging markets who lack credit history or have a damaged one – wins the 2026 Aurora Tech Award, receiving $50,000 in non-dilutive funding
- Pesira Technologies (Kenya) and Muta (Colombia) place second and third, from a cohort of 10 finalists selected by a panel of over 40 venture capital partners and chosen from a record 3,400 applications across 127 countries
- The ceremony in Santiago drew an influential audience of global investors, founders, ecosystem leaders and media – with eight of ten finalists from Latin America, marking the region’s growing weight in the global women-founder pipeline
- The news follows the launch of Aurora Ventures, an early-stage investment program backed by inDrive, built on the Award’s five-year pipeline of high-performing women founders in emerging markets
The Aurora Tech Award, powered by inDrive, has named Colombian fintech Quipu and its founder Mercedes Bidart as the winner of its 2026 edition – the most competitive in the Award’s five-year history. Chosen from more than 3,400 applications across 127 countries and pitched live to a room of investors and ecosystem leaders in Santiago, Quipu takes home $50,000 in non-dilutive funding to scale the business and provide a springboard to institutional investment.
Quipu builds an alternative credit scoring system for informal workers – the hundreds of millions of people globally who earn a living outside the formal economy and lack the payslips, bank statements, or credit histories that traditional lenders require. By using AI algorithms and data of the ‘present’ rather than the data of the ‘past’ that traditional credit bureaus use, Quipu produces real-time credit decisions for people who have previously had none, turning invisible financial behaviour into a bankable track record, accelerating financial inclusion.
Mercedes Bidart, Founder of Quipu, says:
“Winning the Aurora Tech Award is both symbolic as well as impactful to the business itself.
The prize money will go towards building the financial wellbeing monitor for our users, using the live data we are capturing to not just underwrite loans but to give them recommendations on how to improve their business and finances in the whole cycle of their loan.
Beyond the capital, this award is opening doors for more women to dare to lead the future of technology.”
Winners based on traction, not narrative
Pesira Technologies, founded by Penny Musengi in Kenya, placed second. Pesira is an agritech platform connecting smallholder farmers, agribusinesses and finance providers to tackle the agricultural digital divide across Africa’s most underserved communities. In third place was Muta, founded by Estefanía Abello in Colombia. The business brings digital traceability to the recycling supply chain and enables brands to verify the sustainability credentials of their materials.
The ten finalists – spanning fintech, healthtech, agritech, sustainability, HR tech and wealthtech – were selected by a network of more than 40 venture capital partners across Latin America, MENA, Africa and South Asia, evaluated on commercial traction, team quality, unit economics and market opportunity. Each represents a founder building a rigorous business to solve a real, local problem in markets where their potential and value is routinely underestimated.
A cohort dominated by LATAM
The 2026 final was held in Santiago as a reflection of this year’s cohort, with eight of this year’s ten finalists coming from Latin American countries. Spread across Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Panama, the concentration speaks to the health of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Chile itself is a case in point, with one of the most developed startup ecosystems in Latin America – strong institutional infrastructure, a maturing VC landscape and a culture of international ambition.
Isabella Ghassemi-Smith, Head of the Aurora Tech Award and Aurora Ventures, comments:
“The momentum displayed by the people who joined us in Santiago confirms that Chile is an undisputed hub for technology and innovation in the region. But what Chile, LATAM and emerging markets as a whole don’t yet have is capital that’s kept pace with the quality of the companies being built. Our Awards ceremony put that gap in front of the people best placed to close it – which is what Aurora exists to do.”
Javier Cueto, Managing Partner and Imagine Ventures and one of the judges, adds:
“This year has shown how much the Aurora Tech Award has grown, particularly in LATAM, where eight of this year’s cohort are based. Not only were there more applications – there was a clear step-change in the quality of these businesses. This top 10 is proof that you don’t have to choose between impact and returns. These founders are building commercial businesses to solve real, local problems.”
An award pipeline that made the case for a fund
The Aurora Tech Award final follows the April launch of Aurora Ventures, an early-stage investment program backed by inDrive and built directly on the Award’s five-year pipeline. As applications grew from 116 in 2021 to 3,400 in 2025, the Award surfaced a repeating pattern: exceptional founders reaching institutional capital later and on worse terms than their performance justified.
Aurora Ventures is the natural progression from the Award, setting out to address the market opportunity it has surfaced. It will invest $180-250k at pre-seed and seed stage in women-led companies across MENA, Africa and Latin America, with the 2026 program structured as a pilot year ahead of a formal GP/LP fund structure.
About the Aurora Tech Award
The Aurora Tech Award, powered by inDrive, backs the boldest women tech founders in emerging markets. Aurora combines non-dilutive capital with direct access to investors, operators and a global network. Since its inception in 2021, it has acted as a catalyst for women in 127 countries to build the next category-defining companies.
About Aurora Ventures
Aurora Ventures is an early-stage investment program backing women founders in emerging markets – specifically those building high-traction, capital-efficient businesses that have been systematically undervalued by traditional venture capital. Launched in 2026 with inaugural backing from inDrive, Aurora Ventures targets investments across MENA, Africa and Latin America at pre-seed and seed stage. The 2026 program is designed to validate the investment thesis and build an initial portfolio, forming the foundation for a formal GP/LP fund structure.
About inDrive
inDrive is a global mobility and delivery platform. The inDrive app has been downloaded over 400 million times and has been named the second most downloaded mobility app for the fourth consecutive year. inDrive operates in over 1,100 cities in 48 countries. In 2023, inDrive launched New Ventures, a venture and M&A arm.
Image attributed to inDrive
