Pee-Cycling was named winner of the FNF GreenPitch Challenge 2026.
The event was hosted and administered by GreenCape, a green economy development agency and City-supported Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).
The winning innovator uses technology to convert human urine into fertiliser and non-potable water.
The business was co-founded by Dyllon Randall and Caitlin Courtney, who developed the process through the Department of Civil Engineering and the Future Water Institute at the University of Cape Town.
Dyllon Randall said being part of GreenPitch opened up exciting opportunities for them.
“The FNF Afri GreenPitch gave us access to people and expertise we would not otherwise have had and pushed us to think harder about how we grow. Winning is a real boost for the team, and it comes at exactly the right moment as we move towards our first commercial urine-to-fertiliser plant” said Randall.
He also highlighted that they have a pilot plant at DHL Stadium, in partnership with Bidvest Prestige, where the company collects urine from the stadium and converts it on site into a liquid fertiliser, recovering both nutrients and water that would otherwise be flushed away.
Pee-Cycling collected 3,600 litres during the South Africa vs New Zealand rugby game.
This project is still in an experiment and the fertiliser has not been used anywhere as yet. The DHL Stadium only uses turf approved fertiliser on the field.
‘This comes from just a single bathroom, and from just one of the four urinal troughs in it. So the scope to scale up the volume that can be collected from venues is substantial’ said Randall.
GreenCape’s Green Finance Programme Manager, Lisa Johannson, noted the pivotal role programmes such as the challenge play for growing businesses.
‘For a green business, the hardest stretch is rarely the idea. It is the journey from first customer to first factory. That stretch is the pioneer gap, and the FNF Afri GreenPitch Challenge exists to close it, opening the way to investment in the green economy and the jobs that follow. Last night in Cape Town we celebrated that innovation, and we now pass the baton to our East Africa partners for Nairobi on 25 September, where nine more founders take their turn in front of investors,’ said Johannson.
Eighteen (18) clean innovation start-ups were part of this year’s FNF GreenPitch Challenge 2026.
They were selected from more than 300 entries, from Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.
The challenge has been running since 2018.
Matlhogonolo Seadimo, founder of Mattie’s Success, a Botswana-based enterprise that converts banana stem waste into safe, biodegradable hair braiding fibre, was runner-up and won the People’s Choice Award.
Seadimo said “winning both second place and the People’s Choice Award is an incredible honour and a meaningful validation of our mission at Mattie’s Success. This experience has given me the opportunity to share our vision while connecting with inspiring entrepreneurs and changemakers across Africa. The People’s Choice Award is especially meaningful because it shows that our story and solution resonated with the people. These two awards have strengthened my belief that African innovation can create solutions that are not only commercially viable, but also meaningful for our communities and our planet. I am deeply grateful to Afri GreenPitch for believing in and amplifying our journey.”
Picture of entrants posing with Alderman James Vos, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth (MMC).