Post by Aurora Tech Award

Here they are, the 3 winners of the 2026 Aurora Tech Award. From 3,400 applications across 127 countries, these three bold women founders rose to the top. 1st place — Mercedes Bidart (Colombia): Quipu is an AI-powered fintech giving credit access to unbanked micro-businesses in Latin America, $50,000 (and we’re happy your family was there to celebrate it together with you!) 2nd place — Penny Musengi (Kenya): Pesira Limited is a company that digitizes agriculture and brings financial inclusion to farmers and agribusinesses across the Global South, $30,000  3rd place — Estefanía Abello Plata, CFA (Colombia): MUTA is an all-in-one platform helping recycling companies digitize operations and scale sustainably, $20,000 Thank you to Arsen Tomsky, Founder of inDrive, Valentina Papic Ponce, Director of Expansion at Start-Up Chile, and Helena Haykin, Esq., LL.M, MBA, Partner & Head of Legal M&A at inDrive, for the honour of presenting the awards. Also props to the teams we worked with:  Aurora team: Bella Ghassemi-Smith, Tamara Loseva, Kseniia Matveeva, Anastassiya Dmitriyeva, Sima Piterskaia, Yerkezhan Shaldybayeva, Nadeen Hossam, Nazya Temirkhanova, Alyona Khon, Yana Starr, Daria Khoroshikh, Nurdaulet Turar, Veronika Mokhnachevskaya; InDrive team: Jorge E Rincón Torres, Javier Silva, Xeniya Verba, Liza Novikova, KANAT NOGOIBAYEV Chilean partners: Santo B (Bernardita Ibieta García) and PARLA teams, Stefanie Vogt, Bernardita Ibieta García, Andrea Figueroa, Carmen Dussaillant, and Sebastián Jordana Steinsapir Congratulations to the boldest founders of 2026. You showed up, you pitched, you owned that stage. Every finalist in this cohort is building something that matters in emerging markets. Aurora brought capital, connections, and community, and we know that over these days, all three showed up for real. And a huge thank you to our exceptional judges for their thoughtful decisions. P.S.: Aurora is now an investor. And so Applications to Aurora Ventures are officially open - here's the link [https://lnkd.in/eRf-ymP8] #2026AuroraCeremony

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