One network, six regionsInventors Unleashed illustration
Six regions. One promise to every young inventor.
Inventors Unleashed is the international network of six independent invention houses serving Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the Pacific Islands. Each helps young inventors protect their ideas, build prototypes and reach investors and markets, free of charge, while the inventor keeps ownership.
Talent is everywhere. The path to market is not.
In every region, young people solve real problems with whatever is at hand. Too few of those solutions are protected, tested or brought to the people who need them. Inventors Unleashed exists to close that gap: shared standards, six organisations rooted in their own regions, and one route from an idea in a notebook to a product in the market.
Together, the six members serve 137 countries and territories and their diasporas. Each is an independent organisation with its own languages, partners and way of thinking; all share the same commitments to the inventors they serve.
Invention made life as we know it possible.
Clean water, medicine, light after dark, the phone in every pocket: each began as one person's answer to a problem. Regions that invent keep more of the value they create, and the jobs that come with it.
- Value stays at home
Turning local raw materials into finished products keeps income, skills and jobs in the communities that produce them.
- Solutions that fit the problem
Those who live with a problem every day are often best placed to solve it, at a price and in a form that work locally.
- Protection creates assets
A protected invention can be licensed, financed and built into a company. An unprotected one is easily lost.
Six members. Six ways of advancing.
Each member is an independent organisation with its own website, languages and programmes, shaped by its region's own way of thinking. Choose a region to visit its site.
Swahili for “creativity”
A continent of creators, from the Stone Age to artificial intelligence.
Visit the site
Spanish for “forward”
Collective ingenuity: minga, mutirão and konbit, cooperatives, and “Hecho aquí”, made here.
Visit the site
Hindi and Urdu for “ahead”
Frugal ingenuity, raised to world-class quality and scale.
Visit the site
Indonesian and Malay for “advance”
Gotong royong and bayanihan: advancing together, through ports and supply chains.
Visit the site
Kazakh for “forward”
Crossroads thinking: from science to industry, along the corridors between Asia and Europe.
Visit the site
The voyaging canoe, in several Polynesian languages
Wayfinding, community consent and remote-first support from island to island.
Visit the siteSix ways of thinking. One standard of care for every inventor.
Read the full member profilesThe same commitments, everywhere.
A member may adapt its languages, partners and priorities. It may not change these six commitments.
Free to submit
Inventors never pay to submit, to be evaluated or to be mentored. No idea or prototype is too small.
The inventor keeps ownership
Patents are filed in the inventor's name. No member ever takes ownership of an invention as a condition of help.
Success share only
A member's Ventures company earns a share, disclosed in writing in advance, only after a licence, sale or investment actually closes.
Independent professionals
Patent work is carried out by independent, qualified attorneys and agents, never by unlicensed staff.
Local languages, local hubs
Each member works in its own languages through the universities, innovation hubs and maker spaces that already exist.
Results in public
Every member publishes its figures each year: submissions, filings, prototypes, agreements and the money returned to inventors.
Proven first, then opened.
A member opens to submissions only when the conditions below are met, so that no inventor is ever promised help that cannot be delivered.
- Phase 1Founding council
Regional universities, innovation hubs, a patent partner and civil-society organisations agree the member's plan and standards.
- Phase 2Hubs and funding
Partner hubs are confirmed in anchor countries and the member's Patent Fee Fund receives its first commitments.
- Phase 3First intake
Submissions open in the member's languages, online and by WhatsApp and SMS, with free evaluation and mentoring.
- Phase 4First prize round
National rounds lead to a regional final, and the member's champions go on to the Inventors Unleashed World Final.
Conditions for opening
- The first-year results of Kuumba · Africa Inventions are published
- Founding hubs are confirmed in at least three anchor countries
- An independent patent partner is engaged for the region
- The member's Patent Fee Fund is seeded
- Submission is available in the member's main languages
From one continent to every region still building.
One method, many patent systems.
Each member works with the patent systems its inventors actually use, through independent professionals qualified in each jurisdiction.
| Member | Main protection routes | Status |
|---|---|---|
| KuumbaAfrica and the diaspora | OAPI (17 member states), ARIPO, national offices, PCT | Live |
| AdelanteLatin America & the Caribbean | Andean Community common regime, PROSUR cooperation, national offices, PCT | In preparation |
| AageSouth Asia | National offices, PCT where available | In preparation |
| MajuSoutheast Asia | ASPEC and ASPEC+ examination cooperation, national offices, PCT | In preparation |
| AlgaCentral Asia & the Caucasus | Eurasian Patent Organization, national offices, PCT | In preparation |
| VakaPacific Islands | National offices and registries, PCT where available | In preparation |
Sources: FIU Law Library: International IP organizations · Baker McKenzie: ASPEC+
Every member's champion, on one stage.
National rounds. Regional finals. One World Final.
Once more than one member is running its prize, each regional champion will be invited to the annual Inventors Unleashed World Final, with investors, first buyers and media from every region in the room.
Regional champions
The winner of each regional final, presenting a working prototype.
Crown the Creators
Each member's Miss and Mister Creator of the Year, celebrated for what they build.
Investor days
Two days of private meetings between finalists and registered investors.
The regional prizes that lead to the World Final
Standards set together. Decisions made locally.
Inventors Unleashed sets the shared standards and publishes every member's results. Each member governs itself through its own nonprofit Foundation and its own Ventures company.
Inventors Unleashed
The parent organisation. Sets the shared commitments and standards, convenes the World Final and publishes each member's annual results.
Member Foundations
Each member's nonprofit Foundation runs its programmes, its Patent Fee Fund and its prize.
Member Ventures companies
Each member's Ventures company handles licensing, company formation and introductions, on disclosed success shares only.
Regional councils
Regional partners choose each member's priorities, hubs, judges and languages.
Member Foundations and Ventures companies are being established.
Every invention began with a question.
How do we solve a problem that keeps returning in our lives or in our communities? How do we improve a solution that exists but still falls short? Most of history's great inventions began there.
- 01Ask
What problem could you solve today? Which existing invention or solution could you make better, cheaper, safer or easier to use?
- 02Write it down
Set out the problem and your idea on paper, with a sketch if you can. Date it and keep it. A written idea can be tested, improved and protected.
- 03Contact us
When you believe you have the solution, or even part of it, submit it through the member for your region. We will help you with the rest.
Three questions to start your notebook
- What wastes time, money or energy in your home, farm, school or business every week?
- What tool or service almost works, but fails the people who need it most?
- What problem do people around you simply accept because no one has fixed it?
No one will build our future for us.
No one else will solve our problems, transform our raw materials, or invent and create in our place. The time has come to stop waiting for others and to act, starting today.
- Solve a problem.
- Propose a solution.
- Build what comes next.
Every problem we solve brings us closer to well-being and a better future for the generations that follow.
Where are you building?
Inventors, investors and partners are welcomed by the member that serves their region. Choose yours to submit an invention, register investor interest or offer support.
No idea or prototype is too small. Members other than Kuumba · Africa Inventions open submissions as their founding partners are confirmed; you may register your interest with them now.
Unsure which member serves you? Call the coordinating office: +1 510-902-8741