Milken Institute to award $500,000 in unrestricted funding to companies scaling technology to enhance circular economy practices<\/p>\n
The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation announced the 10 teams advancing to the Semifinalist Round of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy, with $500,000 in unrestricted funding to innovative companies driving inclusive economic growth and sustainable development in Africa.<\/p>\n
A total of $2 million in non-dilutive capital will be distributed for this prize, along with opportunities for global visibility, mentorship, and investor connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cGlobally, the circular economy represents a $4.5 trillion opportunity. Africa is uniquely positioned to lead in this transition, leapfrogging legacy systems in favor of technology-enabled, regenerative models,\u201d said Emily Musil, managing director at the Milken Institute. “Through the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy, we are supporting entrepreneurs who are turning resource efficiency into market competitiveness, scalable growth, and good jobs. We are honored to help bring these solutions to the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n
As worldwide demand for compute power and natural resources grows and supply chains face ongoing disruption, circular models are becoming central to industrial competitiveness and stable employment. They secure the critical minerals, electronics, and water that power AI, and they help businesses meet new EU circularity requirements to stay competitive in European markets and beyond. This year’s prize celebrates companies that are using next-gen technologies to scale commercially viable solutions that advance these practices while creating jobs and delivering measurable environmental and social impact across Africa.<\/p>\n
Judges, representing expertise across circularity, industry, and social entrepreneurship will winnow the 10 semifinalist teams down to five finalists based on their commercial viability, market scalability, workforce and social impact, and circularity and environmental impact. Once the final round of judging is complete, a $1 million Grand Prize will be awarded at the 2027 Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, alongside a $250,000 Runner-Up prize.<\/p>\n
The 10 Semifinalists for the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program in Circular Economy:<\/p>\n
Bottle Logistics East Africa
\nTeam Lead: Louisa Gathecha
\nBased in Kenya, Bottle Logistics East Africa is a technology-enabled circular economy company that combines digital reverse logistics with advanced industrial glass recovery infrastructure to collect, recover, recycle, reuse, and upcycle discarded glass into returnable packaging, high-quality glass cullet, and value-added circular products.
\nCold Hubs
\nTeam Lead: Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu
\nBased in Nigeria, Cold Hubs designs, builds and operates 100 percent solar-powered walk-in cold rooms, refrigerated trucks, and reusable crates for outdoor food markets, fresh produce collection centers, and farm clusters to store and preserve perishable foods 24\/7, extending their shelf life from 2 days to 21 days.
\nCountry Materials Ltd.
\nTeam Lead: Avith Philip
\nBased in Tanzania, Country Materials is a tech-enabled circular steel company using AI and digital systems to identify, trace, and recover legitimate scrap metal and return it to productive use as raw material for Africa\u2019s steel industry.
\nEKT Trade and Investment
\nTeam Lead: Kiros Teklu Berhe
\nBased in Ethiopia, EKT is a circular manufacturing company that transforms plastic waste into high-value products, creating jobs, reducing pollution, and building a scalable circular economy in Africa.
\nPapyrus Egypt
\nTeam Leads: Ramy Azer and Heba Nayil
\nBased in Egypt and Australia, this engineering company has proven technology to convert banana plantation waste into environmentally sustainable and friendly biodegradable packaging and organic liquid fertilizers products.
\nRegen Organics DBA Sanergy
\nTeam Leads: Ani Vallabhaneni and David Auerbach
\nBased in Kenya, Regen Organics is building strong, resilient food systems for African farmers through a circular-economy model that converts polluting urban sanitation and organic waste into regenerative agricultural inputs, organic fertilizers, and biochar that restore soil, increase farmers’ incomes, and mitigate climate change.
\nSafeSip
\nTeam Lead: Faith Kuya
\nSafeSip operates a dual-revenue circular economy model in Tanzania, converting post-consumer and agricultural plastic waste into ISO 4427 pressure-rated recycled resin and drip irrigation hardware, delivered to smallholder farmers as pay-per-liter Irrigation-as-a-Service with zero upfront capital outlay.
\nSafi Organics
\nTeam Lead: Samuel Rigu
\nSafi Organics is a Kenyan climate-tech company converting rice husks and sugarcane bagasse into Safi Sarvi\u00ae, a carbon-negative organic fertilizer that increases crop yields by up to 30 percent and farmer incomes by up to 50 percent.
\nTriple M Electrical and Electronic Contracting
\nTeam Lead: Mahmoud Montash
\nTriple M is an Egyptian engineering company that uses diagnostic testing to extend the working life of electrical power infrastructure\u2014purifying transformer oil and rehabilitating transformers, switchgear, and panels so that mineral oil, copper, and steel stay in service instead of becoming waste.
\nZafree
\nTeam Lead: Bethelhem Dejene
\nBased in Ethiopia, Zafree Papers manufactures tree-free pulp and paper from agricultural residues, starting with banana farm waste, for the packaging industry.<\/p>\n
Since awarding its first Grand Prize in 2023, the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program has supported visionary innovators and entrepreneurs across sectors, providing the capital, resources, mentorship, and networks needed to turn bold ideas into investment-worthy solutions. Now entering its fifth year, the prize community has grown to over 16,000 people across 162 countries, with more than 85 percent of the entrepreneurs based in Africa. To date, the program has catalyzed more than 31x in the value of its prize awards in follow-on funding, reached more than one million stakeholders, and delivered over 1,800 hours of capacity-building, mentorship, and media training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Milken Institute to award $500,000 in unrestricted funding to companies scaling technology to enhance circular economy practices The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation announced the 10 teams advancing to the Semifinalist Round of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy, with $500,000 in unrestricted funding to innovative companies driving inclusive economic growth and sustainable development …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9,1310,1280],"class_list":["post-12100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-business","tag-general","tag-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n