The Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech Pitches and Grand Prize Ceremony | Global Conference 2025

• The 2025 Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech focuses on sustainable solutions for emerging economies, specifically targeting underbanked and unbanked populations through African-led innovation.
• Total prize funding of $2 million was awarded this year, marking the largest semi-finalist payout in the program's history.
• Each of the ten semi-finalists received $100,000 to fund company growth and operational scaling.
• The grand prize winner, Virto, receives $1 million in funding.
• Since the program's inception four years ago, the initiative has catalyzed 10 times the prize value in follow-on investment.
• Supported companies have positively impacted the lives of over one million people in their communities.
• The prize community has expanded from 100 pioneers to over 9,500 members.
• An accelerator program is being launched to further support winners and help them scale their operations.
• The next challenge cycle, the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AI and Manufacturing, will open for registration through the summer.

Strategic Vision and Market Context

• Mike Milken highlighted Africa's demographic advantage, noting that per capita income and population growth rates there will outpace the rest of the world over the next century.
• Africa's population is projected to grow by 1.5 billion people, with 43 million children born annually compared to 3.7 million in the US, creating a massive future consumer market.
• Patrice Motsepe emphasized that entrepreneurship is the primary driver of economic success, with hundreds of millions of African entrepreneurs, many of whom are women, requiring access to capital.
• Precious Mothobi emphasized the need to leverage mobile money and digital finance to overcome infrastructure gaps and support community-based financial literacy.
• Michael Milken noted that 50% of the 4 million listeners to a recent entrepreneurship podcast were from Nigeria, signaling a high concentration of talent and potential for local company building.

Finalist Solutions and Performance Metrics

• Chooms:
  • Addresses the low savings rate in Sub-Saharan Africa (8.5%) by utilizing behavioral psychology to bridge the gap between saving intentions and actions.
  • Operates with a low minimum ticket size of 5 cents, challenging the traditional $100 entry barrier for investment channels.
  • Generates revenue by channeling funds to licensed fund managers and splitting returns, allowing for near-zero user onboarding costs.
  • Customizes platform interactions based on local culture and languages, such as linking savings to football team outcomes in Kenya.
• Oze (OSE):
  • Aims to close the $331 billion small business credit gap by digitizing financial data for informal SMEs.
  • Employs a dual-product model: a lending management system for banks and a business management app for SMEs.
  • Utilizes an MIT-developed machine learning model to create credit scores for "thin-file" African SMEs.
  • Achieved a reduction of non-performing loan ratios by 84% for partner banks using their data integration.
  • Reports a default rate of just above 1% for the specific cohort of entrepreneurs using the combined platform.
  • Currently serves 20,000 active SME users across seven countries, with loan sizes ranging from $50 to $40,000.
• Virto (Vero):
  • Provides a desktop-based operating system for cross-border payments, solving friction caused by fragmented payment rails and disconnected currencies.
  • Charges 70% less than traditional banks for cross-border transactions.
  • Offers multi-currency accounts covering 25 currencies and an FX product for 14 African currencies.
  • Currently profitable and licensed in Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, with licensing in progress for Tanzania.
  • Plans to use the $1 million prize to expand into Francophone regions and North Africa and enhance mobile onboarding capabilities.
  • Addresses the issue of 96% of African trade being domiciled in US dollars by enabling direct local currency conversion.

Judges' Assessment and Strategic Bottlenecks

• Oze's bottleneck: The primary constraint is the slow pace of bank technical adoption and the lack of modern core banking infrastructure in partner institutions.
• Virto's bottleneck: Regulatory compliance and the paperwork burden for small businesses are identified as the "dumbest" barrier to scaling, requiring a simplified user interface to reduce friction.
• Choom's competitive advantage: Differentiation lies in integrating savings into daily lifestyle behaviors rather than requiring high motivation or disposable income, appealing even to users with existing bank accounts who prefer mobile money.
• Regulatory Landscape: Oze and Virto noted that harmonizing central bank policies across borders is critical for the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Program Impact and Future Outlook

• Last year's green energy winner, AFTRAC, transformed from a concept to a fully operational social enterprise with manufacturing facilities in Malawi and South Africa.
• AFTRAC is deploying modular microgrids and agricultural education programs in Malawi to support rural schools and communities.
• Dr. Precious Mothobi confirmed that the program is shifting focus to building "solvers of the future" by providing resources beyond cash prizes.
• The program continues to prioritize women entrepreneurs and the digitization of the informal economy as key levers for sustainable development.