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Beyond the “Big Four”: Why Emerging Markets Are Becoming Friendlier to Women Founders

A woman in Nairobi has spent months building a technology business from a problem she knows intimately. In Bengaluru, another founder is turning an idea into a company while navigating a funding environment that has historically favoured male-led ventures. In Almaty, women already lead almost half of the country’s small and medium-sized businesses. None of these women may operate from Silicon Valley, London, New York or another globally dominant startup hub, yet their stories point to a significant shift: the next generation of women-led businesses is increasingly emerging from markets once considered peripheral to global entrepreneurship. That shift does not mean emerging markets have suddenly become easy places for women to raise capital. Far from it. But the entrepreneurial landscape is changing, and several emerging economies are developing conditions that can make them relatively more accessible, innovative and responsive to women founders. The evidence begins with the sheer scale of…