NSF I-Corps Hub (Track 1): Southeast Region

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps Hubs project is the development of a transformative entrepreneurial ecosystem that enhances the nation's economic and industrial competitiveness through fostering entrepreneurship and deep technology workforce development. Spanning four southern states with significant demographic diversity, the Hub addresses regional inequities in access to capital, experienced entrepreneurs, mentors, and advisors for deep technology researchers.

By leveraging collective strengths of partner institutions with extensive backgrounds in research, entrepreneurship, and innovation, the project aims to catalyze the ecosystem through mitigating technological, expertise, and capital disparities. The Hub will deploy a regional I-Corps infrastructure with full-time access to entrepreneurial training at scale, assisting researchers in applying customer discovery principles to technology translation.

This project serves the national interest by promoting increased participation in national I-Corps programs throughout the region, culminating in an ecosystem that is diverse, inclusive, and representative of the region's population. The anticipated outcomes include a commercialization roadmap with enhanced academia-industry partnerships, equitable access to opportunities, and a sustainable increase in diversity across the South's innovation landscape.

By focusing on increasing engagement with the Southern community in terms of startups and technology commercialization, the project seeks to increase interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, especially among underrepresented groups.

This I-Corps Hubs project is based on the development of a comprehensive regional innovation network that combines the strengths of diverse academic institutions, including Hispanic Serving Institutions and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The project's goal is to create a scalable model for translating research into commercial ventures with societal benefits, including equitable opportunities for historically underserved entrepreneurs.

The approach involves integrating best practices from existing I-Corps Hubs programs and developing tailored initiatives for underrepresented groups. Key methods include collaborative research, commercialization activities, and specialized training programs. The project will actively monitor success metrics for all Hub activities.

This approach extends beyond traditional innovation support, incorporating research to understand the impact of differing environments on participation. The project aims to make significant contributions to entrepreneurship, innovation policy, and regional economic development. The goal is to positively impact the region’s economy from the establishment of new businesses and commercialization of new products and services that have benefitted from the Hub’s I-Corps training.

The imperative to diversify the region's economic base serves as a strong motivator, potentially increasing interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and yielding equitable access to opportunities across the South's innovation ecosystem.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.