Innovation-driven partnerships between startups and universities are fast becoming a cornerstone for sustainable development and economic transformation across Africa. According to the World Bank (2023), academic partnerships boost sustainable public investments and create better employment.
Universities—long seen as epicentres of knowledge creation—hold the potential to drive groundbreaking technological advancements that solve real-world challenges. Yet, a persistent disconnect exists between academic research and its commercialisation in Africa. Despite a rise in research output, the continent contributes just 0.1% of global patents and allocates only 0.45% of its GDP to research & development—a clear indicator of untapped innovation. This gap restricts the real-world application of ideas, stifles economic growth, and leads to missed opportunities in high-impact sectors like health, agriculture, and clean energy. Closing this divide is essential to fully harnessing Africa’s innovation potential and advancing sustainable development.
At HEI Innovation Practice, housed within CcHUB, we believe that bridging this gap is not only possible but necessary. Through structured collaborations between startups and universities, one can unlock powerful synergies that lead to transformative solutions and scalable growth. Our recent work exemplifies this approach: The HEI team at CcHUB facilitated a partnership between a renewable energy startup and a virtual research group at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST). This relationship led to a dedicated research & development agreement—a critical step in advancing innovation from lab to market.
Globally, countries like Switzerland have built funding structures such as BRIDGE and Innosuisse that support this kind of innovation continuity, paying researchers to further develop technologies that will benefit startups. The EU’s Eurostars and EIC Pathfinder programmes serve similar functions. Unfortunately, most African countries lack such aligned funding mechanisms, with South Africa currently being the only eligible country for Eurostars. This disconnect between research and innovation funding remains a critical bottleneck in the continent’s innovation pipeline.
Launching SUPARTech: A Platform for Startup–University Collaboration
To address this gap and its scale impact, CcHUB Africa is proud to announce the launch of SUPARTech—a program designed to catalyse meaningful partnerships between African startups and university research groups.
SUPARTech is a 12-month innovation support piloprogram that aims to foster the co-creation, knowledge exchange, and commercialisationon of innovation. It will serve as a structured platform for connecting startups with researchers working on high-potential technologies and solutions.
Project Objectives
- Bridge the gap between academic research and market needs.
- Strengthen innovation capacity within African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
- Promote knowledge transfer and commercialisation of research outputs.
- Build lasting partnerships that catalyse R&D in the service of entrepreneurship.
The Four Phases of the SUPARTech Program
- Public Awareness Campaign:
Educating stakeholders and the public on the value and potential of startup-university partnerships. - Capacity-Building Workshops:
Training researchers, innovation offices, and startups on collaboration models, IP, and commercialisation strategies. - Startup–Researcher Matchmaking:
Facilitating strategic connections between startups and research groups to co-develop viable solutions. This phase will be piloted in Nigeria. - Documentation of Success Stories:
Capturing and sharing case studies that demonstrate impact, influence policy, and encourage replication across the continent.
The SUPARTech programme aims to bridge the gap between academic research and entrepreneurial practice by pairing the research capabilities of African universities and the market know-how of startup founders.
The integration of scientific insights with commercialisation expertise empowers startups to develop sustainable, scalable solutions to real-world challenges, strengthening Africa’s innovation ecosystem and its global competitiveness.
Apply here: bit.ly/SUPARTech_CallForApplication. If you are a startup founder