AinDrive, a global urban services and mobility platform, has launched an investment program aimed at female founders in emerging markets. Called Aurora Ventures, the initiative seeks to identify and accelerate early-stage startups with high growth potential, but which still face difficulties in accessing capital.
The project is being implemented in 2026, in a pilot format, with a focus on building a portfolio of startups led by women in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The expectation is to invest up to US$250,000 per company, making between five and seven contributions throughout this year.
Initially, Aurora Ventures will make investments directly from inDrive’s balance sheet. The proposal is to set up an initial base of startups in pre-seed and seed stages, validate the thesis and, next year, structure the operation into a formal General Partner/Limited Partner (GP/LP) fund model.
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“This year, our goal is to prove that there is a pipeline of undervalued and high-performing female founders,” says Isabella Ghassemi-Smith, head of Aurora Ventures, in an interview with Startups.
According to her, the idea came about after years of following female startups at the Aurora Tech Award, an award created by inDrive in 2021 to support female founders of IT startups. “We saw companies with similar metrics to male founders raising capital later and with lower valuations. We thought: this is an arbitrage opportunity”, he says.
inDrive does not reveal, at this time, the total size of capital available for the program.
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Agnostic model and regional focus
Aurora Ventures’ strategy is based on regional theses. In Latin America, the program focuses on fintechs aimed at unbanked populations and credit solutions for micro-enterprises. In Africa, agritechs appear more strongly.
Even so, the operation will be agnostic regarding sector and business model. “The most important thing is to have a solution with real impact, capable of solving some of the biggest problems in the world”, highlights Isabella.
“We probably won’t invest in B2B CRM software or infrastructure for fintechs, because there are already many solutions in this market, and it’s unlikely that a new company will emerge bringing something truly innovative. The main thing for us is to support financially solid businesses that also generate a positive impact,” he said.
In addition to investment, the initiative provides strategic support for selected startups, including access to global networks, connections with investors and decision makers, mentoring and operational guidance.
“One of the biggest challenges faced by female founders is the lack of access to people who can really make a difference. Whether it’s getting in touch with a bank, a decision maker, or even improving accounting and understanding the company’s cost efficiency. That’s why Aurora Ventures was designed as a capital, connection and community program”, says the executive.
Brazil has an important role in the strategy, as the country already features prominently in the Aurora Tech Award. The 2026 edition, which received almost 3,500 entries, had Brazilian Mariana Zuliani, founder of OncoAI, among the finalists.
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For inDrive, the dynamism of the Brazilian startup ecosystem places the country as a strategic market for the program’s growth. “Brazil is an opportunity, and many companies that are being built in Latin America want a gateway to the country, precisely because of the size of the economy”, says Isabella.
The role of inDrive
inDrive’s participation takes place through New Ventures, a new business and M&A arm created by the company in 2023 with the aim of investing up to US$100 million in startups.
According to Isabella, Aurora Ventures reflects the trajectory of the organization itself. Created in Siberia, inDrive reached unicorn status in 2021 after raising US$150 million in a round led by Insight Partners and General Catalyst. Currently, the company is present in 48 countries and more than 1,100 cities, offering services that go beyond urban mobility intermediation, such as deliveries and financial solutions.
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“Most people don’t understand what it’s like to build something of this size coming from emerging markets. inDrive sees itself as a company that was also underestimated”, says the executive.
Aurora Ventures starts from the premise that businesses led by women in emerging markets continue to be undervalued, even when they have relevant traction. For the organization, this distortion creates a consistent opportunity for investors able to identify these companies ahead of broader valuation. “There are companies led by women achieving the same metrics as their male counterparts, but raising funds later and with lower valuations”, he states.
A survey conducted by Aurora Ventures with almost a thousand female entrepreneurs from 127 countries shows that structural biases, higher demands for results and cultural barriers directly impact female founders’ access to capital. Among the main barriers cited are intersectional bias, skepticism about the ability of women to lead technology companies and the requirement for more robust metrics to gain the trust of investors.
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Next steps
The success of the pilot project will be measured based on three pillars: the quality of the investments made and the evolution of the startups supported in the first months; building a solid pipeline of female founders aligned with Aurora Ventures’ proposal; and strengthening the initiative’s digital presence, the main channel for attracting startups. The expectation is to use this basis to formally structure the fund in 2027.
For now, the program’s capital comes exclusively from inDrive. The idea is to start more structured conversations with external investors from mid-2027. “We want to bring in the right partners, not just anyone joining the fund,” says Isabella.
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