NSF National I-Corps Program

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

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