The Argentine woman aiming to be the Equifax of the informal economy: Mercedes Bidart wins the Aurora Tech Award
Mercedes Bidart has turned an idea born during the pandemic into one of the most promising fintech ventures in emerging markets. Her startup, Quipu, was awarded the Fintech track prize at the Aurora Tech Award 2026 for developing technology that transforms SMS data into instant credit decisions for underserved workers and microentrepreneurs across Latin America.
What started as small loans delivered directly to informal workers in Colombia has evolved into an alternative credit infrastructure now attracting investors, financial institutions, and strategic partners throughout the region.
Quipu Was Chosen Among Hundreds of Global Fintech Startups
The Aurora Tech Award 2026,launched by inDrive in 2021, has become one of the leading global recognitions for female founders building technology companies in emerging markets.
This year’s edition received 3,400 applications from 127 countries, including 300 startups competing specifically in the Fintech category. Quipu was ultimately selected by the team led by Alina Zavorokhina and inDrive Money because of its ability to generate credit decisions within minutes for gig workers and small business owners traditionally excluded from the financial system.
The company’s technology analyzes financial SMS behavior and alternative digital signals to create credit profiles for people with no formal banking history.
The Financing Gap Facing Latin America’s Informal Economy
One of the region’s largest structural challenges remains financial exclusion. Across Latin America, 33.2% of GDP comes from the informal economy, while in countries such as Guatemala the figure reaches 44.6%.
Microenterprises account for nine out of every ten businesses in the region, yet collectively face a financing gap of more than US$1.4 trillion. The issue is not repayment behavior, but rather the absence of formal credit histories.
Without access to financial records, traditional banks often reject applicants automatically. As a result, many entrepreneurs are pushed toward informal lenders charging extremely high weekly interest rates, creating cycles of debt that are difficult to escape.
Quipu’s model was designed precisely to address that problem.
From an Incan Quipu to a Modern Credit Infrastructure
The startup’s name references the ancient Incan quipu system, a method of recording information through knots in the absence of written language. Founded in 2021 by Mercedes Bidart alongside Juan Cristóbal Constain, Viviana Siless, and Eduardo Carrasquilla, the company adopted the same philosophy: identifying and recording information that others fail to see.
Quipu emerged from an incubation process at DesignX at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its original product — a community marketplace powered by a digital currency — did not succeed commercially. However, fieldwork with small merchants revealed a far more urgent need: access to working capital.
That discovery led the company to pivot toward alternative credit scoring infrastructure.
Today, Quipu’s platform evaluates variables that traditional credit bureaus generally ignore, including:
- Financial SMS behavior patterns
- Geolocation data
- Computer vision analysis of business images
- Social media activity
- Mobile phone usage signals
According to the company, the model has achieved AUC metrics of up to 0.84, while financial institutions using the technology have doubled approval rates without negatively affecting risk indicators.
Quipu’s Growth Metrics and Strategic Partnerships
Quipu’s Growth Continues to Accelerate
The company’s traction has helped position it as one of the region’s fastest-growing financial inclusion startups.
Quipu reports:
- More than 300,000 users with generated credit scores
- Over US$8 million in loans disbursed with positive unit economics
- More than 40,000 active customers across Colombia
- Breakeven achieved in 2025
- US$4.6 million raised in total funding
Its latest pre-Series A round totaled US$1.1 million and was led by Impacta VC, with participation from Decelera, Vertical Partners, Corteza Capital, and Comfama.
The startup has also established strategic partnerships with Nequi, Claro, Bancóldex, and ProMujer.
Quipu currently operates through a hybrid B2B2C model, combining direct lending with a scalable API-based scoring infrastructure licensed to banks, digital wallets, cooperatives, and telecommunications companies.
The Mexico Pilot With inDrive Could Mark a Turning Point
The Aurora Tech Award recognition also includes a strategic partnership with inDrive.Money to launch a pilot program in Mexico.
Under the initiative, Quipu’s scoring infrastructure will be tested with inDrive drivers who have little or no formal credit history.
The Mexican market represents a significant expansion opportunity because of its combination of high informality levels, growing smartphone adoption, and a massive base of gig economy workers generating consistent digital activity data.
According to the project data, 90% of gig workers’ income in Mexico is spent on essential daily expenses, while 45% of drivers who receive loans through inDrive apply for a second loan, suggesting strong repayment demand and continued usage.
“Quipu Is Infrastructure, Not Just a Fintech”
When leading Quipu’s latest funding round, David Alvo, CEO of Impacta VC, described the company as “not just a fintech, but infrastructure for transforming how credit is allocated in Latin America.”
Mercedes Bidart has expressed an even broader vision: building an “Equifax for the informal economy,” where microentrepreneurs own their financial data and financial institutions compete to serve them instead of excluding them.
For Quipu, the Aurora Tech Award 2026 represents more than industry recognition. It validates a model that could reshape access to credit across Latin America, proving that millions of informal workers already carry valuable financial data in their phones — even if traditional banks still do not know how to interpret it.
