Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech

The Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech is designed to expand access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. This innovation award offers $2 million in total prizes, this includes a $1 million Grand Prize. Participating companies will also gain access to networking and pitching opportunities. Registration is now closed.

The Grand Prize will be announced and celebrated at the Milken Institute’s 2025 Global Conference in Los Angeles, California.

~ 1 %

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent about 90 percent of businesses and more than 50 percent of employment worldwide.

100 million+

According to World Bank estimates, over 600 million jobs will be needed by 2030 to absorb the growing global workforce.

1 %

In emerging markets, SMEs are the primary source of formal employment, accounting for 70 percent of jobs.

How to Win

Application Submission

Companies submit application materials (as outlined in the rules). An independent panel of expert judges will select 10 companies to progress as semifinalists. Each semifinalist will win $100,000 to further develop their FinTech solutions.

Grand Prize Submission

Three companies will progress as finalists to submit materials for the grand prize submission (as outlined in the rules). The judges will select one winning team to receive the grand prize of $1 million. The grand prize will be announced and celebrated at the Milken Institute’s 2025 Global Conference in Los Angeles.

Award Purpose

The purpose of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech is to award companies that demonstrate the use of cutting-edge technologies to expand access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets.

Finalist Teams

Three outstanding FinTech teams advanced to the final round, competing for the prestigious $1 million USD grand prize to bring their groundbreaking innovations to life.

Chumz, Kenya

Chumz is a gamified savings product that leverages behavioral psychology to help individuals save at low cost.

Oze, Ghana

Oze is a digital lending platform that bridges Africa’s credit gap by providing banks with a small and medium-sized enterprise- (SME) focused app that digitizes financial data, enabling risk assessment and lending to small businesses.

Verto, United Kingdom

Verto is a business-to-business cross-border payments platform for businesses in emerging markets, powered by a unified network that eliminates intermediary fees, handles 49 currencies, and settles transactions faster.

The Semifinalists

The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation are proud to announce the 10 teams advancing to the Semifinalist round of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech. Each team will receive $100,000 in funding.