MOTSEPE FOUNDATION AND MILKEN INSTITUTE ANNOUNCE WINNER OF THE MILKEN-MOTSEPE PRIZE IN FINTECH

The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation are proud to announce the winner of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech, a $2 million innovation award designed to reward companies working to expand access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. The winner was announced at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

Verto, based in the United Kingdom, won the $1 million Grand Prize for its business-to-business cross-border payments platform, which enables businesses in emerging markets to send and receive payments, eliminating intermediary fees, supporting 49 currencies, and settling transactions quickly.

FinTech is the third prize awarded as part of the Milken–Motsepe Innovation Prize Programme, a series of competitive multimillion-dollar global competitions and awards designed to incentivize and reward bold, innovative solutions to address pressing economic and environmental challenges in Africa. 

Launched in May 2024, the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech attracted more than 3,000 entrepreneurs from 126 countries across six continents. A total of 400 teams applied, with just 10 being selected as semi-finalists.

Each team underwent a comprehensive judging process that evaluated five key criteria: affordability and accessibility, ethical and responsible practices, scalability in other markets, the use of cutting-edge technology, and the potential to promote equitable access to financial services. 

In December 2024, 10 semi-finalists pitched their innovations to investors at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi. From this group, an expert panel of judges selected three finalists—Chumz, Oze, and Verto—to advance to the final stage of the innovation award at the 2025 Milken Institute Global Conference.

“Across the African continent, technology and innovation are disrupting traditional finance and banking approaches. Investment in this space is profitable and, more importantly, necessary for financial inclusion,” said Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, co-founder and CEO of the Motsepe Foundation. “My heartfelt congratulations to the winners and all the finalists for demonstrating feasible and impactful solutions that will drive economic activity and shared prosperity in the global South, while influencing the financial sector all over the world.”

Since its launch in 2021, the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program has awarded over $6 million in funding to more than 50 innovators worldwide. Participating teams have raised nearly 10 times the Grand Prize in additional outside investments, reaching and impacting over 530,000 community members.

The Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Programme offers free, curated resources and online events not only to award winners but also to nearly 9,000 global entrepreneurs.