Presented by:
Dr. Henry Yatich (P.CGSR)
&
Donatus Njoroge (Head, IIP and CE

Departments:

• Research and Development
• Graduate Studies
  Geographical Presence
• We offer support to innovators from ALL parts of Kenya aided by the MKU presence and
  capacity in 8 regions;Central, Coast, Eastern, Nairobi, North-Eastern, Nyanza, Rift Valley and Western
  

MKU Entrepreneurial and Innovation Policy Landscape

The University has developed a robust entrepreneurial and innovation policy landscape to promote a
culture of creativity and enterprise among its students and staff.

• University Research Policy
• Intellectual Property Policy
• Partnerships that support the policy landscape:
• The World Bank-funded Strengthening Kenya’s Innovation Ecosystem (Skies) Business Incubation
  Program
• The Erasmus+ AHEAD project: This European Union-funded project, which helped establish the
  Innovation and Incubation Centre.
• Annual Research and Innovation Week: This event promotes research, creativity, and
  entrepreneurship among students and staff, often including a Hackathon
• The DAAD-funded ACCESS Project: This initiative, co-led by MKU, partners with multiple Kenyan and
  German universities to enhance entrepreneurship education and service-learning.
• The DAAD-funded STEP Project: The Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) project
  which equips students with action-based training and seed capital to practice entrepreneurship,
  with profits retained by the students.

Funding and Support Strategy

• Vice-Chancellor’s Research and Innovation Grant: This internal grant is a cornerstone of MKU’s funding strategy. It provides seed money to innovators to develop their prototypes and is regularly enhanced to support multidisciplinary projects and capacity building for early-career researchers.
• Innovation Challenges: MKU organizes competitive innovation challenges, such as the Mount Kenya University Innovation Challenge, 2022, 2023, and 2024 which offered winners prize money to be used for product or service development at the incubation centre.
• Collaboration with External Partners: The university actively seeks partnerships with international organizations and government bodies. For example, the DAAD-funded ACCESS-AGEA, STEP projects, Enrich in Africa Market platform, and UNESCO provide students with funded activities and exposure to global networks.

Innovation and Support Strategy

• Incubation and Mentorship: The Innovation and Incubation Centre provides a six month incubation period for top innovations, offering customized coaching by experts and access to state-of-the-art equipment.
• Networking: MKU fosters collaborations with industry, government agencies, and other universities (both local and international) to create an ecosystem for innovation. The Collaborative for Entrepreneurial Universities (CEPU) and Developing Entrepreneurial Universities in Kenya (DePUK) projects, for example, have a goal of promoting knowledge transfer and improving graduate employability-We hosted an entrepreneurial conference in 2021
• Alumni and Community Engagement: MKU encourages alumni to mentor current students and provides scholarships and research contributions. The university also supports national development by allowing external researchers to use its facilities-This is gaining momentum as from 2025.

What we Offer at the Centre

▪ Comprehensive idea to market training program.
▪ Business mentorship & Coaching.
▪ Technology commercialization assistance
▪ Assistance with regulatory compliance.
▪ Intellectual property services.
▪ Design thinking and lean start-up.
▪ Networking activities.
▪ Marketing assistance.
▪ High-speed Internet access.
▪ Office Space.

College of Graduate Studies & Research
P.O. Box 342-01000 Thika.
Office Tel: +254 709 153 143
Web: https://cgsr.mku.ac.ke/
Office Email: cgsr@mku.ac.ke

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