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Technology innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization.

From Idea to Impact

MIN-Corps is the University of Minnesota hub for technology innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization.

We provide education and coaching programs that help STEM students, postdocs and faculty develop the skills required to translate innovations into product and services with real-world impact.

MIN-Corps is a joint effort of the Technological Leadership Institute in the College of Science and Engineering, the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship in the Carlson School of Management, and Technology Commercialization office in the Office for the Vice President for Research.

We are a partner institution in the NSF I-Corps Great Lakes Region Hub.

MIN-Corps Results

Since 2014, thousands of participants from 22 colleges within University of Minnesota and across the business community have participated in hundreds MIN-Corps academic courses, commercialization bootcamps, value proposition design workshops, seminars and events. The 500+ innovation teams (including 46 startups) have generated over $52 million in commercialization grants and investment funding. In addition, MIN-Corps has successfully nominated 35 teams to the national NSF I-Corps Teams program, with each team receiving a grant up to $50,000 to engage in intense customer discovery and business model design. For more information about the University of Minnesota's participants in NSF I-Corps Teams cohorts, click here.

National I-Corps Teams

Participating in a NSF national I-Corps Teams cohort is seven intense weeks of exhaustion, exhilaration and "ah-ha" moments. The program includes a $50,000 grant to cover grad student/postdoc stipends as well as customer discovery costs. Each participating team emerges with a robust set of customer discovery and technology commercialization skills, as well as an assessment of their innovation's market potential and business model.

What does it take to qualify for I-Corps Teams?

A university-based innovation emerging from research conducted by students, postdocs, and/or faculty who are motivated to commercialize their innovation
Third party vetting of that innovation in the form of a patent application, peer reviewed publication, or external grant
Successful completion of a local or regional I-Corps lean launchpad course, including at least 20-30 customer interviews
A team composed of a technical lead (typically a faculty PI or grad student/postdoc involved with the technology), an entrepreneurial lead (typically a grad student or postdoc) and an industry mentor

Learn more

"The class helped us organize our thoughts, come up with hypotheses, and go out there and test the waters. Even though we are at a very [early] stage of commercialization, we have a much clearer vision of where we need to go next."

"I found all the concepts to be incredibly valuable. I wish I would have been more familiar with this approach years ago. This has, and will continue to, shape the way I do work."

"I thought the class time to together with [the instructors’] leadership as well as the sharing of experiences was a great learning experience. The course materials and out-of-class activities were a great foundation."

"The MIN-CORPS class helped us organize our thoughts, come up with hypotheses, and go out there and test the waters. Even though we are at a very [early] stage of commercialization, we have a much clearer vision of where we need to go next."

Celebrating the 2023 MVP Challenge

MIN-Corps is proud to support student innovators through the MVP Challenge.

MVP or “Minimum Viable Product” is a tool to show customers and key stakeholders how your innovative idea could work, capture feedback, and bring your concept one step closer to reality.

Each year, the MVP Challenge awards up to 30 grants from $100 to $5,000 in three divisions: Physical, Social, and Digital.

A Huge thank you to Protolabs for Making the MVP Challenge a resounding success! We are immensely grateful to Protolabs for their invaluable support in bringing our vision to life. Their expertise and dedication played a pivotal role in capturing the unforgettable moments of the Founders Day celebration of student innovation on May 10th, 2023. Watch their video to relive the incredible journey of these talented young innovators!

Congratulations to our 2023 MVP Challenge Winners:

Crowd Favorite: Telo

Best Overall: Octo

Best Undergraduate: Aspiration Containment System for Large Ovarian Cyst Removal

Graduate Student Collaboration

Interactive Workshops

Upcoming Events

Securing Intellectual Property

Pathways to Impact: Ph.D. Career Paths

Industry Connect – Medical Devices & Manufacturing Minneapolis

Science and Engineering Value Proposition Design Workshop

Women Innovators Conference 2023

Technology innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization.

From Idea to Impact

MIN-Corps Results

National I-Corps Teams

Celebrating the 2023 MVP Challenge