African startups marked a milestone at the 15th Orange Social Ventures Prize, collecting a combined €80,000 for high-impact innovation. The anniversary edition spotlighted solutions that drive inclusion, sustainability, and practical outcomes in essential services. The awards capped an international ceremony held alongside MWC Kigali on October 22, 2025.
Ceremony Highlights
Orange named five winners from a field of 70 finalists representing 17 countries across Africa and the Middle East. Senior ecosystem leaders attended the Kigali event, underscoring the prize’s role in surfacing investable, technology-enabled impact. Orange Middle East and Africa CEO Yasser Shaker emphasized that the program has evolved into a leading platform, with more than 17,000 projects submitted since launch and 3,000 in 2025 alone.
Program Background
Created in 2011, the Orange Social Ventures Prize supports social entrepreneurs using technology to advance sustainable development and inclusion. The competition provides visibility, capital, and hands-on support that help early teams professionalize and expand. Winners also receive access to Orange Digital Center programs designed to accelerate product, go-to-market, and regional expansion.
Grand Prize Winner
Morocco’s Sand to Green captured the €25,000 International Grand Prize. The agritech company designs profitable, regenerative agroforestry models that convert degraded or desert land into productive farms. Its platform ties ecological restoration to unit economics, aligning climate adaptation with commercially viable agriculture.
Second and Third Prizes
E-Blood Bank Makila from the Democratic Republic of the Congo earned the €15,000 second prize. The startup connects hospitals, blood banks, and donors through a digital platform with secure payments and rapid delivery by drone or motorcycle. By compressing the time between donor availability and hospital need, it targets a persistent supply-chain bottleneck in lifesaving care.
Additional International Laureate
Ivory Coast’s N’Zassa Fund won the €10,000 third prize for a gamified micro-donations app. The mobile platform turns giving into interactive experiences and routes support to local NGOs via mobile money. Its model aims to broaden participation in philanthropy by lowering friction and adding engagement incentives.
Special Awards
Tunisia’s Proverdy received the €20,000 International Women’s Prize for an AI platform that helps companies measure, manage, and reduce carbon footprints. The product supports compliant reporting and links customers to certified offset projects where appropriate. It addresses increasing regulatory pressure on climate disclosure while giving operators practical reduction pathways.
Jury’s Favorite
Botswana’s Maarifa won the €10,000 Coup de Coeur Prize. The company delivers personalized online learning using AI to adapt content and pacing to student needs. Its goal is to improve academic outcomes by matching instruction to individual proficiency and access constraints.
Momentum and Support
Participation surged this year, with Orange reporting an 82 percent increase in entries compared with 2024. That momentum reflects growing founder interest in applying AI, data, and connectivity to public-interest problems. Post-award, the Orange Digital Center will support the cohort on market entry, partnerships, and product refinement.
Ecosystem Significance
The 2025 edition highlights a sharper focus on measurable outcomes, technical rigor, and scalable delivery models. Health logistics, climate reporting, regenerative agriculture, and edtech emerged as priority problem spaces with clear commercialization paths. The thematic spread also signals rising female leadership and broader geographic distribution across the finalist pool.
Regional Outlook
Winners now face the task of translating pilots into repeatable deployments across borders with differing regulations and infrastructure. Orange’s regional footprint and mentor network can shorten that path, particularly for integrations with mobile money, connectivity, and enterprise buyers. Success will hinge on reliable unit economics, channel partnerships, and proof of impact verified at scale.
The OSVP’s 15th edition delivered both capital and credibility to founders building essential public-interest infrastructure with technology. By combining grants with tailored acceleration, the program aims to convert promising prototypes into durable businesses. Sand to Green, E-Blood Bank Makila, N’Zassa Fund, Proverdy, and Maarifa now carry the banner for impact entrepreneurship across the continent.