Since 1980, oil has provided Kuwait with wealth and prosperity. Slowing oil demand threatens the sustainability of the current economic and social model, highlighting the need to transition to a knowledge-based society, where value creation, the resolution of societal challenges, and the well-being of society as a whole will be based on the production, dissemination, and implementation of knowledge and technology. As part of a national strategy to revolutionize the state of technology in Kuwait, TIV was asked by Arthur D. Little (ADL), a global preeminent consulting firm, to support a Pre-feasibility Assessment towards developing a “Kuwait Innovation Center.”

​

The Pre-feasibility Assessment described multiple facets of the current Kuwaiti innovation system and what the design of an Innovation Center would entail. It ultimately delineated the benefits such a hub for research, entrepreneurship, and invention could produce. As laid out by ADL and TIV, the goal for the Kuwait Innovation Center (KIC) would be to construct a one-stop shop that would serve mainly as a triage for innovative ideas and direct the development of potential startups at any stage of the company lifecycle.

TIV leveraged its venture capital investing and entrepreneurship expertise to establish a framework for startups, from the critical first steps that must be taken in their nascency towards a path of profitability and potential initial public offering (IPO). The team also established the basis for cultivating a national innovation strategy, proposing the development of a National Science, Innovation, and Technology body. Critical success factors in benchmarking were identified to support these initiatives, including mechanisms to attract foreign talent to kick-start the local startup scene, insulation of innovation support activities from public sector bureaucracy and policymaking, and collaboration with corporate partners and entrepreneurs' future KIC alumni.