International organisation the World Economic Forum (WEF) on June 15 announced its 2021 Technology Pioneers, with 100 new technology firms included in the cohort for this year.

The Technology Pioneers are young and growing technology companies taking on top global concerns with innovative technologies and business models, the WEF states.

"Including artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, robotics and financial technology, the 2021 Technology Pioneers cohort is using new tech to protect the climate, address gaps in healthcare and improve financial access and more.

"While at the cutting edge of their industries, many Technology Pioneers are also addressing global societal issues by using new tech to improve education options, address climate change issues and others."

The 2021 cohort will also be invited to participate in WEF workshop events and high-level discussions throughout their two years in the community.

“The 2021 cohort of Technology Pioneers includes many future headline makers at the forefront of their industries. These companies show great potential to not only shake up their industries but offer real solutions to global problems.

"They’ll bring great value to the WEF’s mission of improving the state of the world with their participation in the Technology Pioneers community,” says WEF Global Innovators Community head Susan Nesbitt.

This year’s cohort has the highest gender diversity yet, with more than 30% of companies led by women. There are also 26 economies represented this year, with the United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe represented for the first time.

“All the 2021 Technology Pioneers are bringing great innovation to their regions. Ceretai, for example, is a Technology Pioneer helping media companies uncover stereotypes and representation gaps in their content through automated diversity and equality analysis.

"Banyan Nation is using technology to support circular economy climate solutions in India. Century Tech is supporting personalised education options through combined innovations in learning science, AI and neuroscience.”

“FlexFinTx, in Zimbabwe, for example, is building self-sovereign digital identities to help the more than 400-million Africans that lack proper forms of identification.

"Meanwhile, Cambridge Industries is addressing climate change by developing sustainable city infrastructure to support waste-to-energy products in Ethiopia and helping to innovate next-generation urban infrastructure through sustainable city parks.”

Also in Africa, Kuda Technologies is providing Africans with access to credit and free banking services, in Nigeria, and mPharma is building good health in Africa through technology-driven healthcare, in Ghana.

In Kenya, Moringa School is a workforce development platform serving African students and Sokowatch offers same-day delivery and working capital to African retailers.

This year’s companies will join a group of alumni that include many household names, such as Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Palantir Technologies, Spotify, TransferWise, Twitter and Wikimedia.