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NSF I-Corps Site Program

Through the Innovation Corps (or I-Corps) Site program at Carnegie Mellon University, NSF grantees learn to identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from academic research, and gain skills in entrepreneurship through training in customer discovery and guidance from established entrepreneurs. Teams can receive up to $2,500 in grant funding to conduct customer discovery, market research or purchase supplies to create a prototype for their STEM technology.

Since 2014, the CMU I-Corps Site program has trained 139 teams across all 7 CMU schools. After participation in I-Corps, 20 teams have gone on to participate in nationally ranked accelerator programs and, in total, teams have received more than $37M in follow on funding. More program successes can be found in NSF's CMU I-Corps Site Impact Report [pdf].

Explore Program Benefits

attend required CONNECTS seminars and seven cohort progress meetings for focused customer discovery training and valuable networking with past and present I-Corps site teams and mentors (see program schedule for more information)
receive reimbursement for up to $2,500 for eligible customer discovery expenses (domestic travel to industry trade shows, visits to potential customers and/or developing prototypes, participation in cohort curriculum is required to be eligible for reimbursement)
become part of the Project Olympus incubator program (see Benefits to Becoming a PROBE [pdf])
have a dedicated mentor who will meet with your team to provide you with business expertise, advise on pitch development and help grow your network of contacts
have priority opportunities to showcase your venture at LaunchCMU events and the Olympus Show & Tell
receive guidance in writing proposals for the national I-Corps Team program, SBIR/STTR grants, regional accelerator programs and external funding opportunities
obtain eligibility to apply for an I-Corps National Teams cohort $50,000 grant award if no previous NSF lineage

Program Eligibility

Carnegie Mellon faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, staff, and recent alumni are eligible to apply.
Eligible projects must be in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) discipline
Must have at least a three person team consisting of:
An academic lead: will serve as Principal Investigator (PI), typically CMU Faculty/Staff
An entrepreneurial lead: can be a student, faculty/staff, or recent alumni
A business mentor: The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship can assign you a mentor
Must commit to attending required workshops and cohort meetings (approximately six 1.5 workshops and six 1.5 hour evening cohort meetings)
Must perform a minimum of 30 (ideally 50) customer interviews by the end of the cohort
Participate in focus study at end of cohort for program evaluation

Program and Expense Forms

Business Model Canvas (fillable form) [pptx]
Customer Interview Guide [doc]
Reimbursement Form [doc]
Allowable Expenses [doc]
Prior Approval for International Travel [doc]
Link to CMU Business and Travel Policy Summary
www.Talking to Humans.com (visit this site for link to free.pdf)

Meeting Slides

NSF I-Corps / SBIR / STTR Funding Information

NSF America's Seed Fund SBIR/STTR - Here you can review eligibility, apply for current solicitations, view a timeline with links to topic areas, program director contact info, required registrations needed to apply for SBIR/STTR, etc.
NSF IIP YouTube Channel - Webinars on NSF I-Corps programs and SBIR/STTR funding.
SBIR/STTR Open Solicitations - Links to open SBIR/STTR solicitations from various governmental agencies.
SBIR/STTR On-Line Tutorials - Tutorials in video, multimedia and pdf formats.
Innovation Partnership (iPart) Micro Voucher Program - IPart offers assistance to technology-driven companies in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in preparing high quality SBIR/STTR grant proposals for submission to federal funding agencies. (Please contact a program sponsor in your area at least 2 months prior to the SBIR/STTR application deadline to apply for iPart assistance.)