About I-Corps

In 2017, the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (Section 601) expanded the I-Corps program. To support that expansion, NSF reorganized the National Innovation Network to include a new regional operational structure, I-Corps Hubs.

I-Corps Teams supports teams of scientists and engineers to explore the commercial potential of technologies developed in university laboratories through a standardized entrepreneurial training program.

I-Corps Hubs bring together institutions of higher education within a distinct geographical region to collaborate and deliver a standardized curriculum. The curriculum explores the commercial potential of deep technologies with members of the scientific community and other interested parties in the Hub's region.

NSF collaborates closely with other federal government agencies to provide researchers the opportunity to participate in the I-Corps program to accelerate research toward commercialization. While each agency implements I-Corps at a different stage of the journey, from demonstration to validation, they share a common vision of empowering researchers to inform and accelerate their connection with the marketplace. For more information about these collaboration efforts, check out the NSF I-Corps biennial report.

NSF pilots new ways of fostering entrepreneurship by incorporating I-Corps training into other NSF programs that conduct market research for commercial applications. Such programs include the Partnerships for Innovation program, the Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers program, and America's Seed Fund powered by NSF. In addition, to facilitate training access, I-Corps has collaborated with eight U.S. federal agencies, one U.S. state government, and one foreign country.