Congratulations to the Finalists of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech!
Milken-Motsepe Green Energy Prize

Meet the Finalists: Stories from the Field: Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy

The Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy competition launched at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit in November 2022. Aiming to reward innovators working to expand access to reliable, affordable, sustainable energy in Africa, more than 160 teams from around the world entered, and 20 semifinalist teams from 36 countries were chosen to prove the effectiveness of their ideas in field tests. Five finalists, including the teams below, were selected to advance in the competition and deploy their technologies in a live demonstration in South Africa in February 2024.

In addition to receiving funds to test their innovations and a variety of special benefits, finalists are competing for the $1 million Grand Prize, which will be announced at the Milken Institute Global Conference in May 2024.

Meet the finalists, and learn more about what inspired them to participate in this one-of-a-kind competition program here.

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Engineering News: How an AgriTech Prize Helped Me Realise My Life’s Work

By: Diana Orembe – Founder and CEO of NovFeed When I was a child, I witnessed firsthand my uncle’s struggles as a fish farmer. Growing up on his farm, I saw the immense effort he put into his work, only to be met with financial challenges due to the high cost and inconsistent quality of the feed stock. I later learnt my uncle was not alone, and that African farmers across the spectrum faced similar productivity challenges. This inspired me to find a way to create meaningful change in the African agricultural sector. During my second year at university, while conducting research on the application of microbes as feed, I revisited fish farms and found that the same issues my uncle faced were still around, even ten to fifteen years later. Farmers were investing heavily in feed, often imported and expensive, which cut deeply into their profits. Seeing that these issues

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Vox Africa: Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech Announces 10 Semifinalists

The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation announced the 10 teams advancing to the Semifinalist Round of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech (https://apo-opa.co/3Y0GSEY), with each team receiving $100,000 in funding.   Responding to a global call for applications, this prize supports innovative solutions to expand access to tools necessary for financial inclusion across emerging and frontier markets. The Semifinalists will participate in an Innovation Showcase at the Milken Institute’s Middle East and Africa Summit December 5-6, 2024, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. During this event, the 10 teams will pitch their innovations to a panel of expert judges and investors, and three teams will be selected to move on to the final round of the prize. The judges will evaluate the pitches based on the teams’ ability to deliver solutions that improve financial inclusion for under-resourced groups in emerging and frontier markets.   Read the full article here.

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