Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy 2026 ($2 million in prizes) – YOA

Deadline: August 13, 2026

Applications are open for the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy 2026. The Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy calls on scalable corporations utilizing know-how to boost round economic system practices throughout quite a lot of industries in Africa. This prize affords $2 million in whole prizes, together with a $1 million Grand Prize. Participating corporations may also acquire entry to unique networking and the OPPORTUNITY to pitch to business leaders and key choice-makers.

The successful staff will show a commercially viable, know-how-enabled round economic system enterprise working in Africa with a transparent path to scale. The enterprise will scale back waste, hold supplies in circulation, and ship measurable environmental and social influence via stronger, extra useful resource-environment friendly worth chains. Teams will likely be evaluated primarily based on business viability, market scalability, workforce and social influence, and circularity and environmental influence.

Teams from quite a lot of companies are inspired to apply and groups will likely be required to submit class-particular metrics from industries equivalent to the next:

• Agriculture & Food Systems
• Plastics & Packaging
• Electronics
• Textiles
• Construction & The Built Environment

Prizes

The Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy affords $2 million in prizes, together with a $1 million Grand Prize.

• Semi-Finalists: Ten (10) Semi-Finalists will obtain $50,000 every.
• Finalists: Five (5) Finalists will obtain $50,000 every.
• Final awards: One firm will obtain $1 million Grand Prize; One firm will obtain $250,000 Runner-Up Prize

Eligibility

They are in search of corporations that meet the next eligibility necessities: 

• Over 2 years of steady operation 
• Over $500k in income and raised capital 
• Institutional, company, and/or public‑sector partnerships 
• Solution at present deployed on the African continent 
• Clear proof of social influence and job creation 
• Demonstrated operational readiness to deploy $1M+ in funding 

Application

Click here to apply

For extra data, see FAQ and go to Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy.