IPORA

What IPORA does

IPORA is an international transdisciplinary research network established in 2023, hosted by Université de Bordeaux in France. It coordinates interdisciplinary research across universities in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa University), Côte d'Ivoire (Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny), France (Université de Bordeaux), and Morocco (Université Internationale de Rabat, Université Hassan II), spanning up to nine disciplines including economics, sociology, political science, public health, anthropology, agri-food science, law, and environmental science. The network operates through five research axes: Epistemic communities & African agentivity, Agrifood systems & Nutrition, Air pollution, Global Health inequities, and Social equity in the context of informality. It currently comprises 14 teams, 24 research projects, 15 doctoral candidates, and 5 post-doctoral researchers, with additional research activities extending into 13+ African countries through project partnerships.

IPORA's core offerings are organized around a "Training through Research" programme that includes summer schools, interdisciplinary seminars, tutored projects, doctoral training with co-supervision, and international mobility support. Research outputs are disseminated through open-access publications, conferences, webinars, and the network's website (ipora.africa). The network has produced significant outputs including 11 scientific co-publications in the Global Health axis and 9 articles in the Air Pollution axis as of 2024.

IPORA is not a commercial entity. It is fully funded through competitive research grants from institutional donors, including CGIAR/SPIA (€1.75M for agrifood systems research), European Union Horizon/EDCTP3 programs (€10.3M for the Decide-TB project), GAVI, Eleanor Crook Foundation, FAO, IRD, France Expertise, and the Fonds d'Innovation pour le Développement. Its go-to-market is relationship-driven, operating through university partnerships, collaborative research consortia, and policy engagement with national ministries of health across Africa. The primary stakeholders are academic researchers, policy-makers, and civil society organizations engaged in African development challenges. Pricing is not applicable as participation is free for researchers and partner institutions, with external funding secured through grant applications.

Name

IPORA

Legal name

Université de Bordeaux (Host Institution for IPORA)

Website

https://ipora.africa

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IPORA is an international transdisciplinary research network hosted by Université de Bordeaux, coordinating interdisciplinary research across universities in Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, France, and Morocco on African development challenges including health, agrifood systems, air pollution, and social equity, funded through institutional research grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research Network

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Educational Support Services (611710), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Access & Quality (International Development) (BPAGABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research, Capstone & Extended Essay Mentoring (IB EE, independent research) (EDANAKAH), Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Advisory (AFACABAE)

Keywords

• Interdisciplinary research network
• African development research
• Policy-oriented research
• Doctoral training programs
• Academic research collaboration

Headquarters

HQ city

Bordeaux

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Funding: IPORA operates as a research consortium funded primarily through international development and research grants. The network receives financing from institutional sources including CGIAR SPIA, European Union Horizon programs, the Eleanor Crook Foundation, GAVI, UN agencies (FAO, WHO), French development agencies (France Expertise, IRD), and other international funding bodies for development research.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

IPORA is an international transdisciplinary research network that coordinates collaborative academic research on African development challenges across universities in Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, France, and Morocco. Its core offering is the Training through Research Programme, which structures PhD, post-doctoral, and master's-level interdisciplinary training through summer schools, seminars, tutored projects, and international mobility support. The network delivers research outputs across five thematic axes—epistemic communities and African agentivity, agrifood systems and nutrition, air pollution, global health inequities, and social equity in the context of informality.

Product overview

IPORA is an international transdisciplinary research network established in 2022/2023 by universities in Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, France, and Morocco. Rather than a software product company, IPORA functions as a research coordination and training organization. Its core offerings include a Training through Research Programme with components such as Summer Schools, Interdisciplinary Seminars, Tutored Projects, Doctoral Training, and Mobility Support. The network coordinates five thematic research axes covering agrifood systems and nutrition, global health inequities, air pollution, social equity in informality, and epistemic communities. IPORA supports PhD, Post-Doctoral, and Masters programs, functioning as a platform for collaborative interdisciplinary research rather than a technology product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Training through Research Programme
• PhD Programs
• Post-Doctoral Programs
• Masters Programs
• IPORA Summer School

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• Université de BordeauxcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Université de Bordeaux serves as the host institution for IPORA. The network was created in 2023 by teams of researchers from this university along with partners in Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, and Morocco. The university provides administrative infrastructure and hosts the network's primary operations.
• Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey founding partner university contributing to agrifood systems, nutrition, and global health research. Hosts the UJALA project activities and IPORA Summer School 2026.
• Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding partner contributing expertise in food security, nutrition, and health policy research. Home to multiple doctoral candidates and research projects.
• Université Internationale de Rabat and Université Hassan II (Morocco)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding partner universities contributing to agricultural technology adoption and social protection systems research in Morocco.
• CGIAR (Multiple Centers)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIPORA collaborates with multiple CGIAR centers including AfricaRice (Côte d'Ivoire), ICARDA (Morocco), ILRI, CIMMYT, IFPRI (Ethiopia) on agricultural research and food systems projects. SPIA (CGIAR Standing Panel on Impact Assessment) provides major research funding.
• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates on agri-food value chain research, particularly on mid-stream segments analysis in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire, with partnership for access to value chain stakeholders and field experts.
• Digital Green EthiopiasupportingTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for the FarmerChat AI project in Ethiopia, providing agricultural advisory services through AI tools to small-scale farmers.
• ALIMA (The Alliance for International Medical Action)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in health interventions including the Wakobo ti Kodro project in Central African Republic (maternal health) and NutriVax-Measles project in Nigeria (vaccination and nutrition).
• Plateformes Nationales d'Information pour la Nutrition (NIPN)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational nutrition information platforms in Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire collaborating on food security data and policy analysis.
• NGO RikoltosupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational NGO partner working on food systems transformation and agricultural value chain development in Côte d'Ivoire and Ethiopia.
• Jeune Equipe Associée à l'IRD (JEAI SPADE-KZ)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch initiative funded by IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement) focused on strengthening research capacity on poverty-related diseases in children at University of Zambia.
• REALLITYS Research NetworksupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew research network funded by IRD bringing together nine French research teams and thirteen partner institutions in five African countries to study links between air quality and respiratory health in African cities.
• National Ministries of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with national health ministries in Zambia, Mozambique, Côte d'Ivoire, Central African Republic, and Nigeria for implementation of health research interventions including TB, HIV, malaria, and maternal health programs.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Global Development Network (GDN): International organization supporting research and capacity building on development policy across the Global South — directly comparable in connecting researchers to policy-makers and funding interdisciplinary development research.
• INDEPTH Network: Multi-country network of health and demographic surveillance sites across Africa and Asia — directly comparable as a multi-country research consortium pooling data and capacity for cross-country comparative studies.
• African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC): Africa-based research institution conducting policy-relevant health and population research with multiple country offices and external grants — comparable in transdisciplinary African health research, training programs, and policy-maker engagement.
• AIMS (African Institute for Mathematical Sciences): Pan-African network of centers of excellence delivering structured postgraduate training and research across multiple countries — directly comparable multi-country training-and-research network structure anchored on partner universities.
• CODESRIA (Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa): Pan-African social science and humanities research council funding and coordinating interdisciplinary research across the continent — directly comparable to IPORA's mandate across economics, sociology, political science, and public health with Africa-wide scope.
• African Academy of Sciences (AAS): Continental academy coordinating scientific research, training, and policy translation across African countries — comparable in its role as a research-coordination platform supporting early-career researchers and influencing science policy.
• Cambridge-Africa Initiative: University-based multi-disciplinary program linking African researchers with partners across multiple countries and disciplines — comparable as an academic hub supporting doctoral training, mobility, and collaborative African research.

Regional players

• West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research (CORAF): Regional research coordinating body spanning West and Central Africa on agrifood systems — comparable in multi-country research coordination and policy translation relevant to IPORA's Côte d'Ivoire agrifood projects.

Broad incumbents

• CGIAR: Global agricultural research partnership funding food-systems R&D across multiple centers in Africa — comparable as a funder/partner of IPORA's agrifood systems and nutrition research axis and broader international development orientation.
• IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement): French public research institute with a global mandate for interdisciplinary development research including health, agronomy, and environment — directly comparable given IPORA's institutional relationship with IRD (e.g., JEAI SPADE-KZ and REALLITYS Network).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ipora_africa
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ipora5708
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ipora-africa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about IPORA