PRESS RELEASE: MIT Kuo Sharper Center Launches Deep Tech Program in Africa in Collaboration with the Government of Botswana and Material Impact

Gaborone, Botswana – September 10, 2025 – The MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship today announced the launch of the Deep Tech Program in Africa—developed in collaboration with the Government of Botswana and co-designed with Material Impact. The program gives top scientific minds from across Africa the opportunity to transform their advanced research into scalable ventures that drive impact in health, renewable energy, agriculture, and mining—both on the continent and beyond

Participants will gain access to MIT faculty, leading global deep-tech founders, and customized mentorship from Material Impact, a Boston-based venture capital firm with more than $750 million under management and a strong record in deep-tech commercialization. Deep tech—products and solutions rooted in science and engineering—offers transformational potential for addressing Africa’s biggest challenges while fueling the continent’s transition to knowledge-based economies.

Over the course of an intensive in-person experience in Gaborone, followed by ongoing virtual engagements, teams will learn to navigate the journey from research to commercialization—building investor-ready narratives, crafting operating and fundraising plans, and refining their value propositions. Africa is home to a generation of brilliant innovators with the potential to shape global industries. However, too often, these breakthroughs stall in the lab due to gaps in commercialization expertise, mentorship, and networks. 

“Deep tech is central to solving the most pressing challenges of our time. By offering African scientists the right education, networks, and support, we can unlock innovations that will drive prosperity across the continent and the world,” noted Dina H. Sherif, Executive Director of the MIT Kuo Sharper Center. 

Commenting on the collaboration, Adam Sharkawy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Material Impact said, “The challenges facing our world today demand bold, disruptive solutions that can scale for meaningful impact. By combining MIT’s global leadership in entrepreneurship education with Material Impact’s hands-on operational company-building approach, this program empowers African entrepreneurs to transform local breakthrough technologies into enduring companies that drive regional and global change.” 

Hosting the Deep Tech Program in Botswana underscores the country’s bold commitment to advancing science-driven entrepreneurship and innovation as key drivers of Africa’s future competitiveness in the global economy and to its vision to become a continental hub for entrepreneurship and innovation and a leader in Africa’s transition to a knowledge-based economy. 

Who Should Apply?

We invite early-stage teams from across Africa—including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Egypt, Botswana, South Africa, and beyond—who are:

• Working on scientifically backed ventures with strong IP or advanced research
• Exploring or beginning the commercialization of their innovations
• Ambitious to transform their industry and region through deep tech
  
   

Apply now! https://app.babele.co/application-definition/501

Deadline: Applications close September 30, 2025.

ENDS

About the MIT Kuo-Sharper Center:

The MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Prosperity and Entrepreneurship (formerly the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT is a trusted space for entrepreneurs and ecosystem players, dedicated to advancing innovation-driven entrepreneurship in global growth markets. Through leadership and venture-building education, tailored mentorship, and exposure to a dynamic, global community, the Center creates space for entrepreneurs to acquire the right tools to build and scale impactful ventures that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. With a community of 400+ fellow alumni and hundreds more community members, It also brings together key stakeholders to co-create solutions to support sustainable prosperity across global growth markets. Through its work, the Center is intentionally reshaping the narrative around growth markets, or what is more commonly referred to as ‘emerging markets’ or the ‘Global South.’ Our goal is to highlight the vast potential of growth markets, positioning them as places of abundance, dynamism, opportunity, and innovation.  

About Material Impact:

Material Impact is a champion of the bravest ideas for the future, building deep tech companies powered by material science that solve enduring, large-scale, real-world problems. Learn more at http://www.materialimpact.com.