InViis Lab – Digital Fabrication Laboratory

InViis is a company developing and integrating value-added solutions to support Burkina Faso and sub-regional enterprises in their innovation and marketing projects, established in May 2015 by merging the marketing and ICT know-how of its founders.

Séfériba Arsène Héma and Hubert B. N’ Do, respectively CEO/CTO and CSO of InViis sarl, has developed an initiative to launch a digital fabrication lab called ‘InViis Lab‘, with the aim of reducing the digital divide in Burkina Faso by promoting a more inclusive approach to digital technologies and access to the labour market for young innovators.

InViis Lab is a MakerSpace that caters to students, entrepreneurs and local companies active in the tech and digital sectors, providing state-of-the-art machinery and equipment to transform innovative ideas into prototypes that can be presented to financiers. InViis Lab also offers research and development services for companies and vocational training courses to enable young African innovators to access the labour market.

OBJECTIVES

→ Support the launch and scale-up of InViis Lab in Ouagadougou by contributing to the economic planning of the social enterprise and enhancing the IT infrastructure and equipment
→ Seek partners and co-funding for the expansion of the project, including the creation of a network of partnerships with universities and research institutes to expand InViis Lab’s research and development activities and potentially open a second Lab in Burkina Faso
→ Consolidate the branding and outreach marketing strategy to identify and increase the number of customers actively using InViis Lab’s services (including students, entrepreneurs, private companies, universities, incubators and accelerators)
→ Increase company revenue to promote new vocational training spaces and job opportunities, improving local living conditions

RESULTS

→ Provided funds to support the purchase of equipment and materials needed to make InViis Lab operational (including PCs, programmable boards, soldering stations, 3D printers)
→ Provided technical-economic assistance to develop and implement financial plans, cost-revenue analysis, business plans, marketing and communication strategies
→ Launch of the laboratory in September 2023 and start of development of several projects including: electronic configuration of LED displays for banks,  development of a biometric recognition system for offices, programming of a badge system for school canteens, printing of models for architectural projects
→ Hosted 3 interns from 2 Burkinabe engineering universities, who contributed to the development of the projects and thus integrated theoretical training with practical activities
→ Initiated collaborations with 3 Italian universities, including the University of Naples, the Milan Polytechnic and the University of Trento, to enhance
the Laboratory ‘s service offering
→ Participation in the Milan Digital Week 2023, together with the Fondazione Aurora Foundation, to present the JONAKO project: a digital platform connecting buyers and farmers to tackle the problem of food waste

→ Reached out to more than 30 contacts to share the publication of the Politecnico of Milano interview with Arsène Héma, to which Fondazione Aurora contributed, as an Alumnus of the Master’s degree course in Telecommunications Engineering: https://alumni.polimi.it/2023/11/16/lalumnus-che-porta-linnovazione-in-burkina-faso/?fbclid=IwAR2YY44aoF1YmJj-0A_CIvyXEI2jj6t8OLy8cETkOoQCdq5WYsWCWjoiPfs

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