The One Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognises three of the world's most promising entrepreneurs aged 18 to 35. The award highlights the work of innovative young business leaders whose enterprises are shaping the world around them and inspiring others to launch their own ventures.
These 3 young entrepreneurs have all been selected as winners because of the tremendous impact of their business ventures and how they are inspiring others with their leadership.
The winners were selected from a shortlist by One Young World’s expert judging panel.
The three winners will be presented with this award at the One Young World 2025 Summit.
The Winners
Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph
Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph is the CEO of Waymaker and Founder of Kippa, a financial management platform empowering African small businesses. Born in Lagos and raised in Calabar, Kennedy was deeply influenced by witnessing small merchants struggle with manual bookkeeping systems that limited their growth potential. At just 16, he founded the Calabar Youth Council for Women's Rights to combat female genital mutilation across 200 communities in Nigeria. Kennedy graduated as the youngest-ever student from the University of Calabar at 19, before spearheading TikTok's expansion across Africa.
Founded in 2021, Kippa has revolutionized how 1.2 million African businesses operate by digitizing their financial management. The platform has processed over $3 billion in transactions, and created 235 jobs for young professionals across six countries. By transitioning businesses from paper ledgers to digital systems, Kippa has eliminated the need for 2.4 billion pages of paper, significantly reducing environmental impact while providing underserved entrepreneurs access to formal financial services previously beyond reach.
Kennedy has received numerous accolades including the Queen's Young Leader Award from Queen Elizabeth II, the Forbes 30 Under 30 Award in Finance, The Future Prize for Technology, and President Obama's Young African Leaders Fellowship. He is a Yenching Scholar (China's Rhodes Scholarship) and two-time Nigerian National Debate Champion (2015-2017). Kennedy lives in Lagos, championing technological solutions that create both economic prosperity and social impact across Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Carlos Andrade
Carlos Andrade is the CEO and co-founder of Manzana Verde, a foodtech startup tackling food, labour, and economic injustice in Latin America. Born in Piura, a small city in northern Peru, Carlos overcame cancer at age 23, an experience that reshaped his values and led him to create a purpose-driven business. In 2019, together with co-founder Larissa Arias, he launched Manzana Verde to bridge the gap between healthy eating and affordability for the Latin American middle class.
Since then, Manzana Verde has delivered over 4 million meals across 6 cities in Peru, Mexico, and Colombia, helping more than 40 small restaurant owners grow their businesses and generating over 1,200 jobs. The company’s zero-CAPEX model uses partner kitchens and proprietary tech to deliver affordable, tailored nutrition starting at $4 per meal.
Carlos’s work has been recognized by Seedstars as Peru’s Best Startup (2019), awarded by the Peruvian Ministry of Production, and supported by leading venture funds such as Salkantay, FJ Labs and Matterscale. Today, he continues to inspire young entrepreneurs from underserved regions, proving that it’s possible to build a scalable, tech-enabled business with high social impact, starting from a small city in an emerging market.
Alex Schulze
Alex Schulze is the co-founder and CEO of 4ocean, a mission-driven company working to end the ocean plastic crisis. Born and raised on Marco Island, Florida, Alex grew up fishing, diving, and surfing—experiences that fuelled his passion for marine conservation. After earning a degree in entrepreneurship from Florida Atlantic University, he co-founded 4ocean in 2017 with friend Andrew Cooper following a surf trip to Bali, where they witnessed beaches covered in plastic waste.
4ocean funds ocean cleanups through the sale of products made from recovered marine debris. For every product sold, the company pledges to remove one pound of trash from the ocean—a commitment known as the “One Pound Promise.”
Since launching, Alex has helped 4ocean remove over 40 million pounds of plastic and waste from oceans and coastlines. The company has created hundreds of jobs globally, operating cleanup divisions in Florida, Bali, and Guatemala.
Through youth-focused programs, educational content, and global cleanups, 4ocean empowers young people to take action for a cleaner, more sustainable ocean.
Alex has been featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for Social Entrepreneurship and was recognized with Surfer Magazine’s “Agent of Change” award for his innovative leadership.