By Milliam Murigi
Kenyan universities have mobilized $4.68 million (Sh605.6 million) in investment and supported more than 400 jobs after a national programme restructured how research is commercialized across higher education institutions.
The gains are attributed to the Research-to-Commercialization (R2C) Programme, a three-year initiative that focused on fixing institutional and leadership gaps that have long prevented university research from reaching the market.
The programme ran from 2022 to 2025 and was led by the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA), implemented by Viktoria Ventures under the Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) programme, with funding from the UK government.
“The programme helped support 438 jobs (76 per cent of them held by women), strengthened commercialization systems in 25 universities, and enabled 12 research-based ventures to scale and reach more than 10,000 customers,” said Mark Lawler, team lead at the RISA Fund, which supported the programme.
For decades, Kenya has invested heavily in university research across agriculture, health, climate resilience, manufacturing and digital technologies. Yet much of that research has failed to translate into products, enterprises or measurable economic impact, largely due to fragmented commercialization systems and weak governance structures.
Prior investments raised awareness but did not build the durable institutional systems needed for scale. According to the R2C impact report, which was released during the programme close-out ceremony, leadership alignment and governance reform are what unlock sustainable commercialization.
“Rather than funding individual research projects, the R2C Programme targeted decision-making structures within universities. It strengthened senior leadership engagement, revitalized Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), clarified intellectual property processes, and repositioned commercialization as a core institutional mandate rather than a peripheral activity,” he said.
By the end of the programme, more than 14 TTOs had been established or strengthened, over 20 intellectual property and commercialization policies had been operationalized and 39 research-based innovations alongside 15 female innovators had received direct support.
“These outcomes reflect systemic change, not isolated success stories,” said KeNIA Chief Executive Dr. Tony Omwansa. “We are beginning to see predictable pathways linking universities, markets and finance.”
The University of Kabianga offers a snapshot of what institutional reform can unlock. Before R2C, the university had active researchers but weak pathways to market.
Commercialization structures existed largely on paper, with limited authority and little coordination across departments. This changed after senior leaders participated in the programme’s Executive Leadership Training, which reframed commercialization as a strategic priority rather than an optional add-on.
“R2C helped move commercialization from theory into daily university operations,” said Viktoria Ventures director Stephen Gugu.
Commercialization was embedded into senior management decision-making, clear mandates were established for innovation offices, governance structures were adjusted to speed up intellectual property and partnership approvals, and research workflows were redesigned to consider market potential early.
The result was faster IP decisions, stronger engagement with industry, and the university’s first credible pipeline of market-facing innovations. The programme’s architects say Kenya’s challenge is no longer about testing new ideas, but about scaling what already works.
“Kenya is ready to move from isolated pilots to national commercialization pipelines,” said Joseph Murabula, Chief Executive of the Kenya Climate Innovation Center. “The task now is to anchor these models in national financing mechanisms and ensure long-term public-sector ownership.”
Future priorities include expanding leadership-led reform to more universities, aligning commercialization with national development priorities, and deepening links between universities, markets and investors.
If sustained, proponents argue, the approach could finally close the gap between Kenya’s research ambitions and its economic outcomes, turning university labs into engines of jobs, enterprises and inclusive growth.
