Patience Karua

Patience Karua is a visionary innovation leader and ecosystem builder with over 10 years of experience working at the intersection of research, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, and innovation policy across Tanzania, East Africa, SADC countries, and European innovation hubs. She has extensive experience collaborating with researchers, startups, development partners, industry actors, and government institutions to drive technology transfer, innovation commercialization, and ecosystem development. She currently serves as CEO of Buni Innovation Hub and DTBi, both innovation platforms under the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH). In this role, she leads strategic initiatives that bridge research outputs with market opportunities, enabling the transformation of ideas into scalable, investment-ready ventures. Her work focuses on strengthening innovation ecosystems, supporting startups, and advancing technology-driven economic growth across regional and international innovation landscapes. She is also a board member of the Southern Africa Innovation Collective(SAIC), a regional platform that brings together innovation hubs from South Africa and other SADC countries, supported by the SADC Secretariat. Through this role, she contributes to strengthening regional collaboration, knowledge exchange, and joint innovation initiatives that enhance the growth and impact of innovation ecosystems across Southern Africa.