Why Do Bioscience Innovations Stall in Kenya? Share Your Insights to Shape the Kenya Bio-entrepreneurship Module (KBEM)

Kenya produces strong bioscience research, yet many promising innovations struggle to reach the market, secure regulatory approval, or achieve investment readiness. The Kenya Bio-entrepreneurship Module (KBEM) – supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) – is being developed as an open, evidence-based, and Kenya-focused resource to strengthen bioscience research-to-market translation across health, agriculture, industry, and environment. This short survey seeks your perspectives on key barriers, decision challenges, researchers and institutional needs shaping bioscience innovation in Kenya. Participation is entirely voluntary, and all responses are anonymous and will be analyzed only in aggregate. Your input will directly inform the design of KBEM tools and guidance to support better researchers, startups, technology transfer offices, and ecosystem partners. The survey takes approximately 6-7 minutes to complete.

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* 1. Which of the following best describes your current role within the bioscience innovation ecosystem?

Academic researcher / Principal Investigator

Postgraduate researcher (MSc/PhD/Postdoc)

Technology Transfer Office (TTO) / Innovation unit

Founder or startup team member

Incubator or accelerator programme staff

Government, regulator, or policymaker

Investor or funder

Other (please specify)

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* 2. In which bioscience domain do you primarily work or engage?

Health / biotechnology

Agri-biotech and food systems

Industrial biotechnology

Environmental biotechnology

Cross-sector or enabling technologies

Other (please specify)

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* 3. Based on your experience, at which stages do bioscience projects in Kenya most commonly stall or fail to progress toward application or commercialization? (Select up to 3)

Identifying and defining a real-world problem

Market validation and customer discovery

Technology readiness and product definition

Intellectual property ownership or protection

Regulatory and quality approval pathways

Access to funding or investment

Team development, governance, or partnerships

Other (please specify)

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* 4. Which decisions do bioscience research or innovation teams in Kenya struggle most to make confidently? (Select up to 3)

Selecting the right problem or market opportunity

Determining IP ownership and protection strategy

Understanding regulatory classification or approval pathways

Choosing an appropriate commercial or business model

Preparing for investors or funding opportunities

Structuring partnerships or licensing agreements

Other (please specify)

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* 5. How confident are you in navigating the following areas without relying on external consultants? (1 = Not confident to 5 = Very confident)

	1 Not Confident	2 Low	3 Moderate	4 High	5 Very High
Intellectual property strategy and ownership	Intellectual property strategy and ownership 1 Not Confident	Intellectual property strategy and ownership 2 Low	Intellectual property strategy and ownership 3 Moderate	Intellectual property strategy and ownership 4 High	Intellectual property strategy and ownership 5 Very High
Regulatory and compliance pathways	Regulatory and compliance pathways 1 Not Confident	Regulatory and compliance pathways 2 Low	Regulatory and compliance pathways 3 Moderate	Regulatory and compliance pathways 4 High	Regulatory and compliance pathways 5 Very High
Market validation and customer discovery	Market validation and customer discovery 1 Not Confident	Market validation and customer discovery 2 Low	Market validation and customer discovery 3 Moderate	Market validation and customer discovery 4 High	Market validation and customer discovery 5 Very High
Business model or venture design	Business model or venture design 1 Not Confident	Business model or venture design 2 Low	Business model or venture design 3 Moderate	Business model or venture design 4 High	Business model or venture design 5 Very High
Fundability and pitching to investors or donors	Fundability and pitching to investors or donors 1 Not Confident	Fundability and pitching to investors or donors 2 Low	Fundability and pitching to investors or donors 3 Moderate	Fundability and pitching to investors or donors 4 High	Fundability and pitching to investors or donors 5 Very High

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* 6. In your view, what are the main reasons why bioscience research in Kenya often does not translate into marketable innovations? (Select up to 3)

Funding structures prioritize publications over innovation outcomes

Research priorities are largely externally driven

National innovation priorities are unclear or fragmented

Limited institutional commercialization or TTO capacity

Weak linkages between academia and industry

Limited entrepreneurial skills among researchers

Other (please specify)

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* 7. Who do you believe most strongly influences the direction of bioscience research and innovation priorities in Kenya?

Individual researchers

Universities or research institutes

National government priorities

Donors or international funding programmes

Industry or private sector actors

Other (please specify)

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* 8. From your experience, which aspects of innovation receive too little attention during early research stages but later become major barriers to commercialization or scale? (Select up to 2)

Regulatory requirements or compliance planning

End-user needs and market demand

Intellectual property ownership

Manufacturing, scale-up, or deployment feasibility

Commercial partnerships or licensing strategy

Market entry and adoption pathways

Other (please specify)

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* 9. Where do you see the greatest weaknesses in institutional support systems for bioscience innovation and commercialization in Kenya? (Select up to 2)

Technology Transfer Offices or commercialization support

Industry engagement and partnerships

Regulatory guidance and navigation

Venture creation or entrepreneurship support

Funding navigation and capital readiness support

Mentorship or entrepreneurial training programmes

Other (please specify)

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* 10. Which of the following KBEM tools or resources would be most immediately useful to you or your institution? [Please rank the options from most useful (1) to least useful by dragging them into your preferred order.]

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* 11. How would you most likely engage with or use the Kenya Bio-entrepreneurship Module (KBEM)?

Self-guided individual learning resource

Integrated into institutional or university training

Used by TTOs or innovation units for project evaluation

Used by founders preparing for funding or regulatory processes

Used as a policy or ecosystem planning resource

Other (please specify)

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* 12. Is there any additional barrier, opportunity, or priority that you believe KBEM should address to better support bioscience innovation and commercialization in Kenya?