The Aurora Tech Award 2024 has concluded its celebration of women founders actively challenging gender inequality in the IT sector by recognizing winners at an inspiring awards ceremony on International Women’s Day. The ceremony, which spotlighted talented founders from across the globe effecting positive changes in their communities, underscored the remarkable contributions that women are making toward advancing gender equality in the field of technology.
Among the distinguished entrepreneurs being recognized for their outstanding achievements are:
- Folake Owodunni, Emergency Response Africa (Nigeria): First Place: Owodunni’s startup is working to improve the accessibility of emergency medical care across Africa, starting in Nigeria, by seamlessly connecting a network of independent medics, ambulance service providers, and hospitals through its platform, transforming them into a cohesive emergency medical services system.
- Hannah Töpler, Intrare (Mexico): Second Place: Töpler’s Intrare is on a mission to ensure job applicants from diverse backgrounds are treated equally by leveraging proprietary AI to eliminate bias from recruitment processes.
- Sarah Phiri-Molema, Deaftronics (Pty) Ltd (Botswana): Third Place: Phiri-Molema’s startup has developed the world’s first solar-powered, rechargeable hearing aid, ensuring access to essential healthcare resources for children and underserved communities.
Ekaterina Smirnova, Head of the The Aurora Tech Award, commented:
“Today we celebrate the remarkable achievements of Folake Owodunni, Hannah Töpler, and Sarah Phiri-Molema. Their pioneering startups not only address the critical needs of their communities, but also serve as inspiration to prospective women founders across the globe. Initiatives like the Aurora Tech Award play a vital role in providing much-needed recognition to women in the tech industry, amplifying their contributions and helping pave the way for greater gender equality and diversity in innovation.”
The Aurora Tech Award, founded in 2020 by US-headquartered global mobility and urban services platform, inDrive, received an unprecedented 649 applications from 102 countries this year, showcasing the significant global impact that women are making in technology and innovation.
The Aurora Tech Award 2024 winners will receive cash prizes of $30,000, $20,000, and $10,000 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, respectively, alongside access to inDrive’s own mentorship program.
About the project
The Aurora Tech Award is a non-profit initiative overseen by inDrive, a global mobility and urban services platform. The Aurora Tech Award is an award for women tech startup founders whose projects have had a profound impact on global development. The objective is to support women entrepreneurs and fight gender bias in the venture capital and technology sectors.
inDrive is a global mobility and urban services platform. The inDrive app has been downloaded over 200 million times, and was the second most downloaded mobility app in 2023. In addition to ride-hailing, inDrive provides an expanding list of urban services, including intercity transportation, freight delivery, task assistance and courier delivery. In 2023, inDrive launched New Ventures, a venture and M&A arm.
inDrive operates in over 700 cities in 46 countries. Driven by its mission of challenging social injustice, the company is committed to positively impacting the lives of one billion people by 2030. It pursues this goal both through its core business, which supports local communities via a fair pricing model; and through the work of inVision, its non-profit arm. inVision’s community empowerment programs help to advance education, sports, arts and sciences, gender equality and other vital initiatives.
For more information visit www.inDrive.com
