With their novel technologies ranging from a new drug for neurological disorders to systems for managing drones world-wide, the University of Arizona’s first cohort of National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation-Corps (I-Corps) teams have moved through the I-Corps site curriculum, a three-week course run through Tech Launch Arizona (TLA) at its community partners. The NSF I-Corps program provides funding in the form of grants worth up to $2,250 to help entrepreneurial teams with innovative technologies discover their customers and get to know those customers’ priorities.
Ultimately, the goal is to help each team figure out the viability of their technology, and at the end of the program based on their now much more intimate understanding of the market and their customers, each team makes a “go” or “no-go” decision on continuing to move forward with their technology.
