Nkosinathi Temba, founder of Thuto.io, has been crowned the 2025 YouthX Award winner by Nedbank. This marks the culmination of the fifth annual YouthX Awards at the YX25 Festival, held at Constitution Hill on October 4.

Temba impressed judges with Thuto.io, an innovative, real-time, academic rewards platform that transforms learning into economic opportunity. By connecting students, parents, and teachers through a single digital ecosystem, Thuto.io rewards academic effort with Thuto Coins, a ZAR-pegged token designed to encourage better learning outcomes and financial empowerment.

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“Winning the YouthX Award is proof that education and innovation can go hand in hand,” noted Temba.

“With Thuto.io, we want to redefine how young South Africans see learning, not only as a requirement, but as a rewarding journey that can change their lives and communities.”

Now in its fifth year, YouthX continues to empower young South Africans through mentorship, funding, and access to tools that help them turn ambition into action.

This milestone reaffirms Nedbank’s long-term commitment to supporting youth innovation and driving meaningful change across communities.

John Makgato, head of youth segment strategy and client value proposition at Nedbank, commended the passion and talent shown by the promising entrepreneurs.

“We are honoured to support them as they transform bold ideas into impactful ventures that uplift local communities.”

Content creator and MC Primo Baloyi explained that he’s been an MC for three years straight, because he believed in what Nedbank stood for. “There’s not a lot of corporates that are focusing on their youth as much as Nedbank.

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There are interactive sessions where we visit universities and help inspire students through YouthX, and the YouthX Awards gives out a lot of money, support, and mentorship.”

Other finalists included:

3rd – Bonginkosi Mabaso. Founder of Ann-Connect (Nexa). A groundbreaking offline exam and learning platform designed for students in low-connectivity environments.

2nd – Sine Shabalala. Founder of Oneway Connect. An AI-driven recruitment platform that improves hiring processes for small businesses.

As part of their journey, finalists received mentorship, exposure, and funding, with R200 000 awarded to the overall winner, R110 000 to second place, and R65 000 to third place.

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