Type I: Greensboro I-Corps Training Site

University Of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro NC

Investigators

Abstract

This project, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, creates an I-Corps Site. 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 Greensboro I-Corps Training Site (GRIT) is a collaboration between the geographically adjacent University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG-lead institution) and North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University (N.C. A&T). Expanding on the existing entrepreneurship missions at the two universities, the GRIT facilitates the commercialization of innovative ideas and research at both institutions, as well as nearby institutions of higher education and the surrounding communities. UNCG's North Carolina Entrepreneurship Center (NCEC) recruits teams from both schools, provides training and measures outcomes of the program. The program focuses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and also looks to provide training to any innovation that offers scalable solutions to societal problems. This Site focuses on inclusion of diverse perspectives from underrepresented cohorts by expanding the training of the commercialization process to populations often underrepresented in entrepreneurship. Expanding training opportunities to women, minorities, people with disabilities, military veterans, and new immigrants fosters greater inclusion. UNCG, a former women's college and a Minority Serving Institution (MSI), and N.C. A&T, the nation's largest Historically Black College and University (HBCU), provide a large ideal population of diverse potential entrepreneurs. The Greensboro area is transforming its economic identity by embracing entrepreneurial activities and inclusiveness of underrepresented populations through establishment and support of community accelerators and programs that will help advance this new growth. The GRIT helps support local economic development collaborations between universities, industry, and local government by providing a new source of trained entrepreneurs and technologies, ultimately directly benefiting the community.