Led by the Office of Research Commercialization (ORC) NC State University, in partnership with nine other leading research universities, was selected by the National Science Foundation to be one of the five national I-Corps Hubs, a $15 million, five-year award. NC State will receive $2M over five years and serves as one of three partner organizations in the Hub, leading efforts to attract, train, and match industry mentors with I-Corps teams from all universities in the Mid-Atlantic Hub. In FY 2023-24 the NC State I-Corps Program successfully completed three short course cohorts (Summer 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024). The total program participants included 30 teams and 89 total participants.
NC State also secured a partnership with Clemson University through its National Science Foundation (NSF) Accelerating Research Translation (ART) award to provide I-Corps training for Clemson-based research teams. This will serve to increase the flow of I-Corps teams through NC State’s program, generate new collaboration opportunities, and grow I-Corps programming in the Southeast region.
Five new NC State startups were launched in FY 2023-24 upon completion of the ICorps program including WearTech, LLC, Structeryx, Inc., Nicelle Technologies, Flip Biosystems, and AVEX Motion. ORC reported that 30 faculty members, 8 undergraduates, 37 graduate students, and 6 postdocs participated in the ICorps Program. Duke University, UNC Greensboro, and Clemson University each had a team participating during FY 2023-24. KIETS Associate Director Raj Narayan serves as an NC State I-Corps ORC faculty instructor and advises the mentors and entrepreneurial leads in the NC State ICorps program.
Some notable accomplishments of prior NC State I-Corps Hub participants include the following:
- ClearSens received a $2 million Department of Defense Phase II STTR award.
- Helixomer received a $983K Direct to Phase II NIH SBIR award.
- TSV Analytics received a $100K seed investment from a regional venture capital firm.
- Gradient Medical received a total of $767K through three SBIR/STTR awards (NSF & NIH).
- Onda Vision Technologies received a $927 NSF SBIR Phase II award.
- Fathom Science received a $200K Department of Energy STTR Phase I award.
- Washington’s Hammer received $120K in funds through its participation in the Techstars Washington DC Accelerator supported by JP Morgan.
- Teen Health Research received a $340K NIH STTR Phase I award.
- Elysia Creative Biology applied to and was accepted into a Fall 2023 cohort of NSF’s National I-Corps Program, receiving a $50K grant.
- Structeryx applied to and was accepted into a Fall 2023 cohort of NSF’s National I-Corps Program, receiving a $50K grant.
- Wireless Drone Charging applied to and was accepted into a Summer 2024 cohort of NSF’s National I-Corps Program, receiving a $50K grant.
- Three NC State startups attended CES 2024 in Las Vegas in January 2024 to present their companies/projects on the trade show floor at Eureka Park. All companies were graduates of NC State’s I-Corps program and made connections with investors and customers at the event.
As of April 2024, teams completing the NC State Regional I-Corps Program have generated a cumulative $63.2M in follow-on funding from grant and investment sources. Participating teams have gone on to form 35 new startup companies and have submitted 54 SBIR/STTR awards, 22 of which have been awarded.