Type I: Iowa State University I-Corps Site: Driving Innovation through Entrepreneurial Talent

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

This project, from Iowa State University (ISU), creates an I-Corps Site at this institution. NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Sites are NSF-funded entities established at universities whose purpose is to nurture and support multiple, local teams to transition their technology concepts into the marketplace. Sites provide infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to enable groups to transition their work into the marketplace or into becoming I-Corps Team applicants. I-Corps Sites also strengthen innovation locally and regionally and contribute to the National Innovation Network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors. The primary goal of the ISU Site is to embed a strong and pervasive culture of entrepreneurship and innovation across the entire campus community. With a rigorous and experiential program of study, led by experts, this Site interfaces with other innovation Sites in the Midwest and, within five years, is expected to propel the university towards reaching its full potential in terms of creating new ventures. This goal is being accomplished via a new entrepreneurial ecosystem that effectively integrates several key components including a continuum of entrepreneurship options, mentors, funding networks and assistance, Angel investors, a "Startup Factory" program and space in a new Startup Factory Building. Expectations are that the ISU Site is energizing solutions to grand challenges - such as food production to serve a growing global population - that require innovative thinking and creativity in agriculture, engineering and other disciplines. ISU, a land grant institution steeped in traditions of agriculture, contributes a record of entrepreneurial contributions reflecting its strengths in engineering, bio-renewables, materials science and agriculture. In the long term, the I-Corps site will generate a new body of academics, holistically trained as scientists-technologists-entrepreneurs, equipped with knowledge and skills to galvanize transformative new solutions to vexing agricultural and other global problems that will ensure the robustness and sustainability of the food and energy supply chain. Association with other agricultural and engineering schools in the Midwest enhances the knowledge base and creates a virtual network of innovators and entrepreneurs driving the economy of the entire Midwest region. Through partnership with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), the Iowa Innovation Council and the Iowa Innovation Corporation (I-ICorp), novice entrepreneurs from the ISU innovation ecosystem connect with the broader network of venture capitalists and business leaders in the state; through practical experiential learning modules, cohorts collaborate with a diversity of successful real-world entrepreneurial businesses (bioscience, information technology, bioenergy etc.) in the Research Park as well as the more mature companies (Pioneer-DuPont, Monsanto and John Deere) that drive the economic engine of the state; and, the Site training program incorporates respect for and inclusiveness of all forms of diversity in the innovation economy.