Whitebox is an initiative of the Government of Kenya through the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology and the ICT Authority, geared towards catalyzing the successful growth of local ventures to global, world-class status.

Whitebox allows for both physical and online submission of innovations. An innovator can walk into any Whitebox office and make physical submissions. The Portal makes it possible for innovators to build their online portfolios over time, and when ready, submit their profiles for consideration.

Growth, development and transformation of local innovations and ventures into viable sustainable business enterprises has continually been stifled by lack of capital, limited expert guidance and poor access to markets. By aggregating stakeholders and relevant partners, the Whitebox will be a national connector for local ventures to access funds, capacity building and access to market opportunities.
Whitebox is intended to facilitate the introduction of local ventures to government ministries, departments, agencies, counties and the private sector to promote local
co-innovation and adoption of local content in the spirit of ‘Buy Kenya, Build Kenya’.

Any Kenyan with a viable idea, innovation or solution in line with the Big 4 agenda and Vision 2030; You can submit as an individual, group and/or corporate entity.

There is no limit; you can submit your innovation in any sector

All submissions will undergo evaluation and due diligence to determine the appropriate level of engagement with the Whitebox. We will provide a response to all submissions with a proposed level of engagement to successful participants.

Yes. We strongly encourage you to date all your submissions. We keep a log of the date, time and manner of all submissions to the WhiteBox in order to track precedence. If not yet acquired a patent, please talk to us on how to apply for one the Whitebox secretariat will provide guidance on the process. However, to safeguard your Intellectual Property rights, we advise that you contact an Intellectual Property professional before submission. If you do not have a patent or have not applied for one yet, you should not disclose any information that may infringe on your ability to subsequently file patents.

Whitebox secretariat will evaluate the innovations and rate them taking the following criteria into account:

• Alignment to the Big 4 agenda
• Originality: the uniqueness of the idea in the marketplace and its potential as a game changer
• Impact: the innovation’s capacity to generate a superior, long-term competitive edge and a significant return on investment
• Universality: the innovation’s adaptability across different markets and countries

After evaluation and review of your submission, the Whitebox team will give you feedback on status of the submitted idea, innovation or solution.
However there are some common reasons why a submission may not be successful, these are:

• Early stage concept not yet proven to address a specific need
• Value provided is not significant or unique
• Claimed benefits not verified or credible
• Idea already exists and hard to ascertain the unique-selling point.

Our rigorous process identifies issues and actively manages any potential conflicts arising. We operate on the strict principle of confidentiality and precedence. We consider first person to articulate, describe and reduce to practice an idea as the Intellectual Property Owner. We define simultaneity of delivery of a concept as being within 6 hours of each other - in which case we consider simultaneously delivered ideas to be co-owned. This is still a matter under consideration and your views will be carefully considered. The Whitebox, it’s officials and associates undertakes NOT to independently develop, implement or execute on any idea submitted to it - we operate under the principles of utmost good faith and probity.