More than 2,500 teams have participated in I-Corps since the program's inception in 2012. More than half of these teams, nearly 1,400, have launched startups which have cumulatively raised $3.16 billion in subsequent funding.
Widely recognized as an effective training program in the U.S. and internationally, the Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program addresses three urgent national needs:
Training an entrepreneurial workforce
The I-Corps program has trained more than 5,800 researchers, many of whom have gone on to create startup companies. In addition, students and post-docs that have graduated from the I-Corps program have entered the workforce bringing the knowledge of the I-Corps process to their industry and academic positions.
Increasing program participation among women and underrepresented groups is important for training an entrepreneurial workforce that reflects the nation's diversity. To expand access to underrepresented groups, NSF partnered with The National GEM Consortium in 2020 to guide advanced science and engineering graduate students toward the program’s four innovation focus areas.
Bringing cutting edge technologies to market and enabling positive economic impact
The I-Corps program has had a positive, powerful ripple effect on the economy — resulting in the launch and subsequent funding of more than 1,000 startup and small-business ventures, which have cumulatively raised over $760 million in subsequent funding
Biennial reports
NSF issues a report on I-Corps program results and impact every two years. These reports outline in detail just how much impact the program is having in the research and business communities.
Team highlights
I-Corps training programs have helped launch more than 1,000 startups. Read about some of the remarkable work by participating teams of researchers.