Aurora Tech Awards 2025 Puts Women-Led Startups on the Global Stage
The awards brought together ten global finalists to pitch their ventures, with Egypt's Salma Medhat earning special recognition for her personal safety platform, Hiryo.
The 2025 edition of the Aurora Tech Award in Cairo put the spotlight on women-led tech startups from around the world. Organised by ride-hailing platform inDrive and held in partnership with Entreprenelle's SHE CAN conference, the event featured a global finale that welcomed ten finalists selected from over 2,000 applications submitted across 116 countries.
From April 11th to the 13th, finalists pitched their ventures to a jury comprising investors, public sector representatives, and business operators, competing for financial support and access to global networks. Alongside the monetary prizes, the event aimed to facilitate connections between founders and potential strategic partners and investors.
During the event, inDrive also announced a partnership with Entlaq, a startup enabler in Egypt. The collaboration is intended to support early-stage ventures through mentorship, infrastructure, and access to capital, reinforcing efforts to grow the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Among the highlights was the recognition of Salma Medhat, founder and CEO of Egyptian startup Hiryo, who received a Special Recognition Award. Hiryo is a personal safety platform that allows users to share real-time updates in public spaces, promoting transparency and accessibility. Medhat's selection marks a notable local presence within the wider international competition.
Award winners included:
First Place ($30,000): Solape Akinpelu (Nigeria) – HerVestA fintech platform providing African women—especially smallholder farmers—with access to savings, credit, and investment opportunities.
Second Place ($20,000): Loretxu Garcia Arraztoa (Chile) – Nido ContechThis startup creates nature-based construction materials to reduce environmental impact and cost.
Third Place ($15,000): Shreya Prakash (India) – FlexiBeesA platform connecting experienced women professionals with businesses seeking flexible and remote talent.
Fourth Place ($10,000): Laura Velásquez Herrera (Colombia) – Arkangel AIAn AI-powered SaaS platform enabling early detection of preventable diseases, transforming medical data into AI algorithms without requiring coding expertise.
Fifth Place ($10,000): Leonie Korn (Switzerland) – UpLeapAn AI platform designed to enhance medical education through interactive simulations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily News Egypt
2 hours ago
- Daily News Egypt
MSMEDA expands partnership with Japan's JICA to boost youth-led industrial projects
Bassel Rahmy, CEO of Egypt's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA), has met with Yu Ebisawa, the newly appointed Resident Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Egypt, to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation aimed at supporting youth-led industrial and productive enterprises. This marks Ebisawa's first official visit to MSMEDA since assuming his post in 2025. The meeting was attended by Raafat Abbas, Deputy CEO of MSMEDA, along with senior officials from both MSMEDA and JICA. Rahmy reaffirmed the agency's commitment to deepening its collaboration with JICA to transfer Japanese expertise to Egyptian industrial enterprises. He stressed the importance of helping small and medium-sized businesses improve production quality, meet international standards, and increase their ability to serve domestic demand and access global markets. This approach, he noted, aligns with Egypt's broader strategy to reduce imports and preserve foreign currency reserves. The discussions also reviewed the progress of an ongoing technical cooperation project between MSMEDA and JICA, which provides business development services to enhance enterprise competitiveness. Current efforts are concentrated in the food processing sector in Minya and the plastics manufacturing sector in Alexandria. Rahmy noted that future cooperation will focus particularly on expanding support for industrial and feeder industries—sectors that play a critical role in integrated value chains and have significant potential for job creation and economic impact. For his part, Yu Ebisawa expressed his appreciation for the strong and productive partnership with MSMEDA and affirmed JICA's readiness to continue and strengthen cooperation in support of small enterprise development and enhanced productivity across Egypt.
Daily News Egypt
2 hours ago
- Daily News Egypt
Al-Sisi reviews transport, industry projects, urges drive to make Egypt global logistics hub
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held a meeting on Sunday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Transport and Industry Kamel Al-Wazir, and Presidential Financial Advisor General Ahmed El-Shazly to review the progress of key transport and industrial development projects, according to a statement by the presidency. Presidential spokesperson Mohamed El-Shennawy said the meeting focused on advancing railway projects, particularly the Arish–Taba line and the Bir Al-Abd–Arish extension, which are designed to spur development in the Sinai Peninsula and create a logistics corridor linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. The discussions also included updates on the development and modernisation of major seaports, including Ras Sudr, Gargoub, Abu Qir, Greater Alexandria, New El-Mex, Ain Sokhna, Taba, and Damietta, recognising their central role in Egypt's national economic strategy. Progress on Cairo's fourth metro line and the high-speed electric rail network was also reviewed, as part of broader efforts to modernise Egypt's transport infrastructure and enhance connectivity across the country. The meeting further addressed plans to develop industrial zones in Upper Egypt, particularly in Wadi Al-Saririya and Al-Matahara in Minya, as well as northern Fayoum. These projects aim to stimulate industrial activity in underdeveloped regions and create employment opportunities, especially in labour-intensive sectors such as textiles and ready-made garments. President Al-Sisi stressed the importance of completing all projects according to schedule and directed continued work to establish integrated logistics corridors that seamlessly connect industrial zones to Egypt's upgraded ports. He underlined that these initiatives must be integrated with the country's modern network of roads, highways, and railways to strengthen Egypt's position as a global trade and logistics hub.
Daily News Egypt
3 hours ago
- Daily News Egypt
Petroleum Minister, IPIC chief discuss expanding local industry, investment in Egypt
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi met with Abdulkarim Abdullah Al-Mutawa, Chairperson of the International Pipe Industry Company (IPIC), to discuss strengthening local industrial capabilities and expanding investment in Egypt's petroleum sector. During the meeting, the two sides reviewed IPIC's activities, with particular focus on the company's factory in Port Said—established through joint Egyptian-Kuwaiti investments—as a successful model of industrial localization. The facility produces high-quality steel pipes and elbows used in oil and gas projects, infrastructure, transportation, and irrigation systems. Minister Badawi emphasized that promoting local industry is a national priority, given its critical role in reducing Egypt's import bill and increasing reliance on domestically manufactured components. He noted that the Ministry fully supports projects that contribute to industry localization, attract foreign and regional investment, and boost added value in the petroleum sector. 'The investment environment in Egypt is undergoing major positive transformations,' Badawi said, 'with significant incentives to encourage participation in energy, petroleum, and gas industries—particularly from Arab partners.' He added that the government is focused on offering promising investment opportunities while supporting the shift to renewable energy, including maximizing the use of natural gas in local manufacturing to generate greater economic returns. For his part, Al-Mutawa praised Egypt's investment climate and highlighted the strength of its engineering and technical workforce. He noted that IPIC's Port Said facility is fully operated by Egyptian professionals and benefits from the country's robust infrastructure, government support, and political stability—all essential ingredients for investment success. He also expressed appreciation for the ongoing support from the Ministry and Egyptian stakeholders, especially Petrojet, which played a key role in the project. The meeting concluded with both parties agreeing to explore further expansion opportunities in line with Egypt's strategy to enhance local manufacturing and reduce dependency on imports. The Kuwaiti delegation affirmed its interest in increasing investment in Egypt, citing the country's favorable conditions for long-term industrial growth.
