Patrice Motsepe's foundation hands $1 million to the Cameroon startup turning trash into industrial gold

A Cameroonian waste recycling startup walked away with $1 million Wednesday after beating out thousands of competitors from around the world to win the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AI and Manufacturing, the most prominent innovation competition of its kind targeting Africa's industrial sector.

BleagLee, based in Cameroon and led by founder Juveline Ngum Ngwa, was named the grand prize winner at the 2026 Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. The company uses patented AI software to detect, collect and process plastic, agricultural and electronic waste, converting it into engineered recycled polymers, 3D printing filaments and bio-based carbon materials.

Tanzania-based Freshpack Technologies took the $250,000 runner-up prize for its AI-powered cold storage system, which targets food waste in informal markets across Africa. Digitech Oasis Limited, a UK-based AI and robotics company, received $100,000 for the Most Advanced Use of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

The prize drew more than 2,000 entrepreneurs from 100 countries across five continents when it launched in May 2025, with just 10 making it to the semifinalist stage. Each team was assessed on four criteria: commercial viability, operational economics, technological integration and market scalability.

The 10 semifinalists pitched at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi in December 2025, with an expert panel then narrowing the field to five finalists: BleagLee, Digitech Oasis Limited, Freshpack Technologies, Spiro and Toto Safi Limited. Those five then took the stage at the Los Angeles conference for the final round of pitching.

BleagLee's edge was the ambition embedded in its numbers. The company is working toward mitigating 300 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions by 2030, while turning what is essentially an environmental crisis into a commercial opportunity.

The Motsepe Foundation, co-founded by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe and his wife Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, is one of two institutional backers behind the prize program. Dr. Moloi-Motsepe, who serves as the foundation's CEO, said Africa is producing world-class AI and technology innovation that is solving real problems on a global scale, and that investing in locally grounded, globally minded ideas yields returns without limit.

Since it launched in 2021, the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program has distributed more than $8 million across more than 50 innovators worldwide. Companies that have gone through the program have since raised nearly 31 times the grand prize in outside investment, collectively reaching more than one million community members.

The organizers also announced on Wednesday a new prize targeting the circular economy, with $2 million in total funding including a $1 million grand prize. The new competition seeks companies using technology to replace linear take-make-waste systems with resource-efficient, regenerative value chains in Africa. Registration is open through August 13, 2026.