UK-based fintech company Verto has been awarded the $1 million Grand Prize in the Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech, a competition designed to expand financial inclusion for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. The award was announced during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles on May 5, recognizing Verto’s pioneering platform for simplifying cross-border B2B payments. This victory affirms Verto's mission of closing financial gaps and empowering businesses in underserved regions with faster, cheaper, and more reliable payment infrastructure.
A Platform Built for Emerging Markets
Verto’s technology allows businesses to send and receive international payments across 49 currencies, many of them exotic or thinly traded, reducing the need for costly intermediaries. Its platform enables rapid transaction settlement in areas where traditional financial systems have been slow or fragmented, making it an essential tool for SMEs operating in difficult currency corridors. By focusing on practical barriers to trade in frontier markets, Verto positions itself as a key enabler of global commerce for small businesses.
A Rigorous Path to Recognition
The Milken-Motsepe Prize in FinTech is part of a $2 million competition jointly launched by the Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation in May 2024. More than 3,000 entrepreneurs from 126 countries applied, with over 400 applications assessed before narrowing down to 10 semifinalists who pitched at the Middle East and Africa Summit in Abu Dhabi. After a final selection round, Verto emerged as one of three finalists and was ultimately awarded the top prize following a comprehensive evaluation of scalability, innovation, ethics, and financial accessibility.
A Strategic Milestone for Verto
This award adds to Verto’s growing momentum, following previous funding rounds including a $2 million seed round in 2019 and a $10 million Series A in 2021. The prize not only brings new capital but also international recognition, strengthening Verto’s profile as it competes in the fast-growing cross-border payments sector. CEO Ola Oyetayo emphasized that the win validates the company’s market vision and provides vital resources to accelerate its reach and impact across emerging markets.
Empowering the Global South Through Fintech
Founded in 2018, Verto was inspired by the founders’ firsthand experience with the friction and inefficiencies of making international payments in Africa. The company’s success reflects a broader trend of fintechs rooted in the Global South tackling long-standing challenges in access to capital. As global fintech attention increasingly turns to Africa and other frontier markets, Verto’s model stands out for being both locally informed and globally scalable.
Driving Systemic Change in Financial Access
The Milken-Motsepe Innovation Prize Program, under which this FinTech prize is awarded, has distributed over $6 million to more than 50 innovators since 2021. Collectively, participating teams have leveraged the program to raise nearly ten times the grand prize in follow-on investments, reaching over half a million community members worldwide. Verto now joins this cohort of high-impact innovators helping to reshape financial systems in ways that are inclusive, equitable, and growth-oriented.
A Future-Oriented Vision
Looking ahead, Verto is expected to use the prize money to deepen its footprint in current markets, broaden its product offerings, and lay the groundwork for future funding. As the firm scales further, it aims to evolve from a transactional platform into foundational infrastructure for cross-border trade in the developing world. With growing demand for tailored financial solutions in underserved economies, Verto’s trajectory signals a powerful shift in how and where fintech innovation takes root.
Winning the Milken-Motsepe Prize is not just a financial windfall for Verto, but a marker of trust and a call to action. As emphasized by Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe of the Motsepe Foundation, the success of firms like Verto highlights the transformative potential of innovation in finance to drive shared prosperity across the Global South. With renewed momentum and increased visibility, Verto is well-positioned to continue bridging financial divides in some of the world’s most challenging markets.