When you think of major tech hubs in the U.S., San Francisco, Seattle or Austin likely come to mind. But just as Uber, Spotify and Airbnb are hardly the only tech companies around, booming tech cities extend far beyond the obvious suspects.

And while our featured list of unexpected tech centers is hardly definitive, it should be taken as a starter set of places to explore, live and work — revealing that investors, entrepreneurs and tech talent at large have more compelling zip codes to set up shop than ever before.

For years, Jugnu Jain worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a successful drug-discovery company in Massachusetts. But when Jain learned that her home country of India did not have any accessible biobanks — which are important institutions that help provide medical research and cures for diseases — she decided to take matters into her own hands. She moved back to India and co-founded Sapien Biosciences — Asia's first commercial biobank. To be at the forefront of anything is impressive, but what Jain accomplished as a female entrepreneur in India was even more remarkable.

Across India, a series of financial and social roadblocks continue to hinder the rise of young, middle-class female entrepreneurs. There's stiff competition in a population of 1.3 billion, and women face additional challenges posed by the expectation of early marriage and less financial freedom and empowerment. But given the opportunity, this untapped potential that women represent could significantly accelerate the growth of India's economy. Just last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development advised India that: enabling the female labor force population alone could help set the nation on a path toward 8 percent GDP growth.