Entrepreneurship
How Universities are Accelerating Research and Innovation in East Africa.
Ludovica Ochieng, Incubation Manager at @iBizAfrica presenting at the Education Collaborative East Africa Convening in Kampala.
Do universities stand at the nexus of research and innovation?
Yes, they do. Not only do these institutions draw curious minds, but they also offer a platform for fostering entrepreneurial skills and innovation. However, they also face the challenge of connecting students with employment opportunities in a job market that can be quite limited, both formally and informally.
Consider these staggering numbers: every year, around 10–12 million young Africans enter the job market, but there are only 3 million formal job positions available as per recent data. Additionally, the International Labor Organization reported that in 2020, youth unemployment rates in Africa were at 10.7%, higher than the global average of 13.6%.
To bridge this gap, university-industry partnerships have emerged as crucial connectors, with statistics from 2022 revealing that 46.8% of universities globally have established links with industries. This symbiotic relationship helps transform academic research into tangible products and services for the market.
Moreover, the rise of university-based incubators (UBIs) has been remarkable. Globally, there are now 150 university-based incubators; our business incubator, @iBizAfrica Innovation and Incubation Centre, is one of them and boasts over 12 years of experience in nurturing innovation and entrepreneurial skills.
In 2012, when the incubator began, students were some of our earliest incubatees. Fast forward to today, and some of our startups have become the founders of successful startup solutions in Kenya and Africa, including names such as PurpInk, Eliteways Travel, SophieBot, MLedger, and Aurora Health Care. These startups have benefited from partnerships with organizations, leading to over USD 250,000 in funding across various sectors such as agritech, fintech, and edutech, with our business incubation center scaling over 800 startups through training, coaching, and mentorship.
What makes university-based incubators potent for innovation? They provide benefits such as nurturing research and development, involving students in real-world challenges, fostering collaboration among students, researchers, and industry professionals, and granting access to valuable resources like labs and expert faculty. Additionally, they serve as fertile grounds for students to incubate ideas, receive mentorship, access resources, and transform concepts into successful ventures. Their impact on fostering entrepreneurial skills and venture creation for innovation is indisputable.
In October, @iBizAfrica shared its insights at the Education Collaborative East Africa Convening in Kampala, joining higher education leaders, educators, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, regulators, policymakers, and government representatives from the East African region. The two-day event, “Accelerating Entrepreneurship and Graduate Employability for Regional Development,” aimed to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing and inspire innovative approaches within East African higher education.
One of the most engaging sessions revolved around the establishment of incubators within higher education institutions (HEIs). This discussion, facilitated by @iBizAfrica Incubation Manager, Ms. Ludovica Ochieng, delved into the technical, infrastructural, and financial complexities involved in setting up incubators on campus.
These were some key takeaways from her presentation on setting up incubators in HEIs:
-
- The success factors of setting up incubators in HEIs include university leadership support, internal expertise from university faculty and staff, the student community that generates a good pipeline of incubatees, and strong industry relationships, among others.
-
- To ensure incubator sustainability, HEIs must consistently enhance incubation processes, refine objectives and strategies for quality outcomes, adapt to innovation ecosystem trends, and encourage a blend of public and private funding sources, as well as a revenue-sharing model with investible startups.
The event emphasized the significance of commercializing university-based research output to drive innovation in East Africa. With the African continent contributing only 2% to global research output and allocating 1.3% of funding to research initiatives, increased investments are essential. Kenya’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) stands at 0.81%, equivalent to USD 2.06 billion, highlighting the urgent need for heightened investment. Despite effective knowledge transfer practices and strong intellectual property protection, the absence of patenting poses challenges to commercialization.
Preparing students for success requires collaboration with diverse stakeholders. HEIs alone cannot achieve this task; collaboration with various innovation stakeholders, including industry professionals, entrepreneurs, regulators, policymakers, and government representatives, is essential. Looking ahead, @iBizAfrica’s commitment to partnering with HEIs and sharing knowledge and experiences remains a key goal as they strive for a robust ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship within the education sector. @iBizAfrica is dedicated to collaborating with HEIs and sharing knowledge and experiences in this endeavor.
By Michelle Njeri.
Key Intellectual property and legal issues to consider when structuring your startup
Intellectual Properties.
In a bid to empower and inspire women entrepreneurs in the tech industry, @iBizAfrica-Strathmore University, in partnership with Standard Chartered Kenya, held the second Women in Tech Masterclass series.
The event delved deep into the fascinating realm of IP infrastructure for startups, shedding light on the theme of intellectual property and legal issues.
Universally, the tech industry is thriving like never before, and women are making significant strides in this field. However, in the fast-paced world of innovation and entrepreneurship, understanding the importance of owning intellectual property is important.
Intellectual property refers to intangible creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, and images used in commerce. It includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, all of which can significantly impact the success and sustainability of tech startups.
There are many IP considerations when structuring a startup, and many founders tend to overlook the importance of owning an IP and are faced with questions of IP ownership in critical moments such as business registration or capital raises.
Most investors are mostly keen on these IP assets; thus, as a startup founder, one can be asked to show ownership documentation before making an investment. Businesses are occasionally made aware of IP ownership concerns during the due diligence process of potential investors; such issues may lead investors to either reject the investment opportunity or postpone it until the issue is resolved.
Leading the conversation was Dr. Melissa Omino, Director at the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Strathmore University. She said, “In the realm of IP, research is the key that unlocks innovation’s chest, helping you identify what’s worth protecting and ensuring your ideas are your most valuable assets.”
Dr. Melissa’s pointed out the following:
- Start with your IP strategy: As a business, focus on building and shaping your strategies around your IP. Prioritize what truly matters to your business model.
- Embed an IP culture in your startup: Regular IP audits are an essential step in identifying what licenses you are missing or need to renew.
- Share your IP now and then: but this also depends on various business factors. Take software developers, for instance; they regularly share code. Although this act might expose their copyrights, it does not entirely permit other developers to harness their product fully since they’ll only use the shared data to earn revenue.
Ms. Dorcas Chebet, Research Manager at CIPIT, mentioned the different types of IPs.
- Copyright: A type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work into a tangible form of expression. It can be writers owning their written work or visual artists owning their designs.
- Trademarks: A sign that can be used to distinguish the goods or services of one company from those of other companies.
- Patent: An exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
- Trade Secret: IP rights on confidential information that may not be sold or licensed.
Understanding how to protect IP is paramount for startups aiming to shape their niche in the market. The masterclass featured expert speakers who demystified IP concepts, highlighting their relevance and the legal implications involved. Participants gained insights into the different types of IP and learned how to safeguard their innovations from potential infringement.
Events like this act as catalysts for progress and change as women continue to create a place for themselves in the tech industry. The masterclass’s insights will undoubtedly inspire women entrepreneurs to follow their passions, take risks with their innovations, and contribute to the rapidly changing digital sector.
By Wachira Kevin.
Women in Tech Program awards 7 women-led startups with USD 70,000
- 7 Kenyan women-led startups awarded USD 70,000 through the Women In Tech Program
- To date, 64 start-ups have participated in the Women In Tech Program and 32 have been awarded over KES 38.4 Million in seed funding
The Standard Chartered Bank and @iBizAfrica – Strathmore University, through its partnership program the Women in Tech Incubator program has today awarded 7 women-led businesses with USD 70,000 marking the successful conclusion of the 6th cohort of the incubation program.
The award ceremony, themed Leveraging Technology for Impact, was presided over by The Standard Chartered Bank Board Member, Mr. Imtiaz Khan, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya CEO, Kariuki Ngari Strathmore University Vice Chancellor, Dr. Vincent Ogutu, and @iBizAfrica Incubation Centre- Strathmore University Director, Dr. Joseph Sevilla.
The 6th cohort of the Women in Tech Program, launched in March 2023, attracted a pool of over 250 startups from sectors such as agriculture, finance, transportation, health, and the construction industry. 15 women-led startups were shortlisted to undergo a 3-month incubation training modeled around the fundamentals of business idea conceptualization, strategy formulation, the Internet of Things (IoT), marketing, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Vincent Ogutu, the Vice Chancellor at Strathmore University, stated, “As we celebrate the graduation of this Women in Tech Cohort, it’s important to recognize the role of technology in our daily lives. A recent study has shown that only 14.6% of startups in Africa are founded by women; there is hope for a bigger representation. If women receive the right mentorship, training, and coaching, the tech ecosystem in Africa will thrive even more. Currently, 30.9% of all new tech roles are filled by female candidates, showing a slight increase from 29% in the previous year, according to recent statistics. Academia and the private sector need to collaborate more on programs like this that support women-led businesses”.
These 15 teams are an increase from the previous cohorts, where 10 businesses were incubated and 5 startups per cohort received funding.
Speaking during the event, Mr.Kariuki Ngari, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya & East Africa said, “Supporting women-led enterprises is a key component of our ambition to impact and influence the growth of the SME sector, and the Women in Tech programme enables us to bring this vision to life. We have been able to catalyse growth through our latest cohort and are confident that the entrepreneurs who have gone through the programme will be better positioned to take up the opportunities in across the various sectors that they serve.”
The funding recipients were picked after a rigorous judging process undertaken by accomplished industry experts in both private and public sectors, seasoned entrepreneurs, and academic thought leaders on solution innovation, availability of market opportunity, and social impact in Kenya, among other criteria.
The seven awarded women-led startups demonstrated excellence based on three main criteria:
- A female-led start-up business that solves social economic needs in Kenya
- An innovative startup that utilizes emerging technologies ie. Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Augmented and virtual Reality; 3D & 4D Printing; Cloud Computing; Big Data; Blockchain; Drone Technology, and Biometrics.
- A business model with a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) alignment
The Women In Tech Top 7 startups for this year are as follows:
- Sign-With Us – Sign with Us is a Sign language training institution that teaches sign language to anyone around the world who has a passion for sign language, or may interact with a deaf person in their line of work.
- Saidiwa Rides – Aims to bridge the gap between unreliable public transportation and relatively expensive digital taxis with a novel driver-passenger pairing model that permits daily commuters to share taxi seats and share costs.
- Imani Health – An e-wallet that enables people to save specifically for healthcare. It breaks down large payments into piecemeal payments that one can easily pay over time before they need the healthcare service.
- Know Learning Ltd – Revolutionizes parental engagement by providing a user-friendly platform that bridges the gap between schools and parents.
- PanaCare- A healthcare company that provides affordable telemedicine services using USSD technology for consultations, remote monitoring, and health management tools without internet access.
- Rhea Soil Health Management – Rhea provides access to soil testing and agricultural extension services to smallholder farmers, analyzing soil and providing results and fertilizer recommendations through a machine learning-powered recommendation system.
- Instruct Africa -Instruct is a legal tech company that leverages tech and data to provide legal assurance to matatu drivers and bodaboda operators. Our mission is to democratize access to justice and legal tools in the informal sector.
In today’s increasingly digitized landscape, emerging technologies have become essential for startup innovators to integrate into their ventures. Notably, AI startup funding in Kenya is valued at KES 13 billion according to a recent survey. However, the adoption rate of such technologies in Kenya remains relatively low at 28.76%, falling below the global average of 35.17%.
Since its inception, the program has trained more than 64 women-led businesses leveraging on technology by offering mentorship, advisory, coaching, networking opportunities, access to seed capital, and investor forums that help mold their businesses to international standards. To date, 32 startups have been awarded over KES 1.2 million (USD 10,000) in seed funding with the first five cohorts attracting over 2,000 applications.
Inclusion and Digital Innovation to Empower the Deaf Community
Hali Halisi, Digital Sign Language Interpretation
In a world that is growing more connected, it is essential to ensure that no one is left behind, especially when it comes to accessing information and services.
In response to this demand, @iBizAfrica-incubated startup Hali Halisi has become a pioneer in digitally connecting institutions with qualified interpreters, enabling the Deaf community to have uninterrupted access to vital information.
Hali Halisi’s remarkable achievement was recognized in June of this year when they won a coveted Sh3.5 million at Mozilla’s Africa Innovation Challenge.
The Birth of Hali Halisi:
The company came to life from the vision of Silvia Muturi, founder of Hali Halisi, who, after over 15 years of sign language interpreting, dreamed of bridging the communication gap between the Deaf community and the hearing world by utilizing technology to bring access and inclusion to those who were often denied access to important health and education information by communication barriers.
“I witnessed firsthand the struggles faced by the Deaf community in accessing crucial information. This ignited a fire within me to create a solution that would empower them to lead more inclusive lives.” Says Silvia.
Incubation at @iBizAfrica:
Hali Halisi found its nurturing ground at @iBizAfrica, a renowned incubation center. Through the Women in Tech program. Through @iBizAfrica’s comprehensive support, including mentorship, networking opportunities, and access to resources, Hali Halisi transformed from an idea into a dynamic startup. Silvia Muturi acknowledges the impact of @iBizAfrica, stating, “By the time we were joining the incubation at @iBizAfrica, we were at the ideation stage. We were formerly known as HOD Hear(oes) on Demand, but based on feedback, it was @iBizAfrica where we were able to rebrand to Hali Halisi and understand our product or service better. The guidance and support we received from @iLabAfrica were instrumental in refining our concept and building a robust platform that addresses the needs of the Deaf community.”
Revolutionizing Communication:
Hali Halisi’s capacity to instantly interpret for clients and remove obstacles to productive communication is its one-of-a-kind selling point. The firm makes it possible for the Deaf population to access education, career opportunities, healthcare services, and more by linking institutions with skilled interpreters available on demand. This innovative digital platform is revolutionizing the way the Deaf interact with the world, empowering them to become active contributors to society.
Triumph at Mozilla’s Africa Innovation Challenge:
Hali Halisi’s groundbreaking innovation caught the attention of Mozilla’s Africa Innovation Challenge, a prestigious competition that recognizes and supports transformative tech solutions. Out of numerous entries, Hali Halisi emerged victorious, securing a remarkable Sh3.5 million to scale their operations and expand their reach. Silvia Muturi expresses her elation, stating, “Winning the Mozilla Africa Innovation Challenge is a testament to the immense potential of Hali Halisi. This grant will enable us to further enhance our platform, reach more institutes, and empower countless lives within the Deaf community.”
Impact and Future Aspirations:
Since its inception, Hali Halisi has positively impacted the lives of many within the Deaf community. By ensuring uninterrupted access to interpreters, the startup has empowered individuals to overcome communication barriers and seize opportunities that were previously out of reach. Looking ahead, Silvia Muturi envisions a future where Hali Halisi becomes a global force for inclusivity, stating, “We aim to expand our reach beyond Africa and create a world where the Deaf community has equal access to information, resources, and opportunities.”
Hali Halisi’s remarkable journey from an @iBizAfrica-incubated startup to a winner of Mozilla’s Africa Innovation Challenge underscores the transformative power of digital innovation. Through their pioneering platform, Hali Halisi is breaking down communication barriers and empowering the Deaf community to thrive. With their inspiring CEO, Silvia Muturi, at the helm, Hali Halisi is set to revolutionize accessibility and create a more inclusive world for all. As the startup continues to make strides, its success serves as a beacon of hope, reminding us of the remarkable impact that can be achieved when technology and empathy converge.
By Wachira Kevin.
@iLabAfrica 