Cameroon-based AI-powered waste recycling company BleagLee has been named the $1 million grand prize winner of the Milken-Motsepe Prize in AI and Manufacturing, the Milken Institute and Motsepe Foundation announced at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.
BleagLee uses patented AI software to detect and collect waste across communities, processing plastic, agricultural and e-waste into high-value products including engineered recycled polymers, 3D printing filaments and bio-based carbon materials. The company is targeting the mitigation of 300 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions by 2030 while turning an environmental challenge into local economic opportunity.
Tanzania-based Freshpack Technologies was named the $250,000 runner-up for its AI-powered cold storage solution addressing food waste in Africa. UK-based Digitech Oasis Limited received $100,000 for the Most Advanced Use of 4IR, recognizing technology with the potential to shape competitive manufacturing over the next decade. Additional interim prizes totalling $750,000 were distributed to the five finalists — who each received $30,000 — and to the 10 semifinalists, who each received $50,000 over the course of the prize cycle. All awards are unrestricted, allowing teams to direct funds where they will have the greatest impact on their businesses.
“Africa is producing world-class AI and technology innovation that is solving problems and creating opportunities on a global scale. And that story is only beginning to be told,” said Precious Moloi-Motsepe, co-founder and CEO of the Motsepe Foundation. “When we invest in innovation that is both locally grounded and globally minded, the returns are limitless. I am delighted to see partnerships like this one ensure the brightest minds have the resources, networks, and platforms they need to scale their work and shape a more prosperous and equitable world.”
AI and Manufacturing is the fourth prize awarded as part of the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program — a series of multi-million-dollar global competitions designed to support bold technological solutions to economic and environmental challenges in Africa and beyond.
Launched in May 2025, the AI and Manufacturing prize attracted more than 2,000 entrepreneurs from 100 countries across five continents, with only 10 selected as semifinalists. Each team underwent a comprehensive judging process evaluating commercial viability, operational economics, technological integration and market scalability. In December 2025, the semifinalists pitched their innovations to investors at the Milken Institute Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi. An expert panel then selected five finalists — BleagLee, Digitech Oasis Limited, Freshpack Technologies, Spiro and Toto Safi Limited — to advance to the final stage at the 2026 Milken Institute Global Conference.
Since its launch in 2021, the Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program has awarded more than $8 million to more than 50 innovators worldwide. Participating teams have collectively raised nearly 31 times the grand prize value in follow-on outside investment and have reached more than one million community members globally. The program also offers curated free resources and online events to a broader community of more than 12,000 entrepreneurs.
