MKU tips Youth to present innovations to access Sh1m of business support, mentorship and training
Innovative youth have two weeks to apply to present their projects to access up to Sh1 million worth of business support, mentorship and training in a programme funded by the World Bank
The call for innovations under the Skies Business
Incubation Program 2024 is seeking inventions in the sectors of manufacturing
and value addition, agriculture, the creative economy, health and digital
technologies. The winners will also get expert support in fundraising, business
development, intellectual property rights, marketing, business registration and
legal compliance.
Encouraged to apply by the July 15th, 2024 deadline
are people living with disability, women and marginalised groups, Mount Kenya
University (MKU)’s Donatus Njoroge, Head Innovations, Intellectual property and
community Engagement and the project lead, says. Those who qualify will get Sh1
million each in business support but not a cash grant.
“In the project we will incubate 40 early stage
businesses and offer technical business support up to December when the project
ends and also post acceleration phase. We will also implement our own
performance improvement plans to position the innovation hub as a hallmark of
excellence in SME support across the country,” he adds.
Established in July 2022, the MKU Innovation and
Incubation Centre was jointly funded by the Erasmus+ programme
of the European Union. The multi-million shilling MKU hub is intended to
support the life cycle of innovations, from inception to market diffusion and
commercialisation. It enables scientific findings, knowledge and intellectual
property to flow from creators to the benefit of the community.
Kenya
boasts of a burgeoning number of an estimated 200 accelerators, incubators and
tech bootcamp providers. The World Bank project aims to benefit 20
beneficiaries for track one and 16 beneficiaries for track two, along with 532
students who will receive scholarships for rapid tech skills training.
Apart from the World Bank, the Strengthening Kenya’s
Innovation Ecosystem (Skies) programme aims to benefit intermediaries that
incubate and accelerate enterprises engaged in various value chains. It is
supported by the Kenya Industry and Entrepreneurship Project (KIEP), a USD 50
million (Sh6.46 billion) project implemented by the Ministry of Investments,
Trade and Industry, Spineberg and E4Impact Foundation. The foundation invests charitable funds in
business ventures for maximum impact and return.
Speaking during the launch of the project last year,
Industry PS Juma Mukhwana said enterprise ecosystem intermediaries are key
priority areas as they play a vital role.
He said this should be well understood if Kenya is to nurture a robust
startup enterprise ecosystem. “Accelerators, incubators and tech bootcamp
providers bridge the gap between startups and their transformation into
thriving enterprises,” Mukhwana said.
Mukhwana said the Kenyan entrepreneurship ecosystem
has witnessed the emergence of numerous business incubators and accelerator
initiatives mainly focused on ICT enterprises. And while this growth has seen
the flourishing of tech startup support networks, he said, it has also presented
both advantages and challenges for these institutions.
David Cheboryot, E4Impact Foundation representative
and one of the directors of the management firm, unveiled the initiative. He
said Skies will be working on building intermediary capacity, empowering tech
education and fostering an environment of collaboration, where intermediaries
join hands to enhance startup support and share best practices and ecosystem
learnings.
“Among the startup challenges identified are funding
gaps (particularly in follow-up funding), policy fluctuations and regulatory
adjustments,” Cheboryot said.
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