The Aspen Institute

This report focuses on what differentiates an invention-based entrepreneur from traditional entrepreneurs and highlights what support invention-based entrepreneurs require, what resources are available, what ecosystem level gaps remain, and what tangible actions can be taken to fill these gaps. It is based primarily on a series of roundtable discussions held in Brazil, India, Kenya, and South Africa, and is supplemented by both one-on-one expert interviews and quantitative survey data. Through this work we have identified five major ecosystem gaps that stymie the growth of invention-based enterprises in emerging markets. These five gaps are: the Market Gap, the Finance Gap, the Talent Gap, the Policy Gap and the Physical Capital Gap.