👏 We are excited to announce the winners of the Female Founder Rising Star Award 2025.
Recognized contributions: Spotlighting emerging women founders who are bringing fresh ideas and bold visions to tech, showing resilience, creativity, and early traction while inspiring others at the start of their company-building journey.
Congratulations, winners! 👏 🎉🤩
1. Jury & Expert Evaluation
🥇 Kyler Cheatham – Founder & Chief Performance Officer, The Confluencial
🥈 Nita Laad – Founder, Nexia AI
🥉 Laura Close – Co-Founder & CBDO, Included
2. Public Voting & Community Choice
🥇 Elrina Retief – Co-Founder & CEO, PickMe
🥈 Riya Nair – Founder, Ax3ntra
🥉 Saba Nisar – Founder & CEO, Saheli - Pregnancy Tracker
These winners show what “rising star” really means: problems first, evidence over hype, inclusion by design, and products that move access, safety, health, and opportunity forward.
✨ Congratulations to all our Gold, Silver, and Bronze awardees — and to every finalist. Your companies may be early, but your impact is already global.