TEDCO and the Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) are excited to host this Regional I-Corps cohort at our corporate offices in Columbia, for the second time! TEDCO is a convenient location and it will allow the teams and TEDCO staff to engage with one another during the kick-off and closing sessions.

This course introduces participants to the key concepts and methodologies used in I-Corps, which is the rigorous market assessment and validation program pioneered by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Teams that successfully complete this course will be eligible to apply for the NSF I-Corps program. Both programs use a similar curriculum, largely based on current “Lean Startup” methodologies, and focus on early customer discovery and business model generation. Teams that participate in this course will not receive additional funding; however, teams that are ultimately accepted into the NSF I-Corps program will receive a $50K grant to continue their discovery and business model development. (Please note that acceptance into the national NSF I-Corps program is completely at the discretion of NSF and requires an additional application process.)

Teams that enter this unique regional cohort will work with leading NSF-certified national instructors and a network of regional advisors, which includes access to a regional accelerator program and venture mentoring service. The vast majority of I-Corps participants walk away with significant, unexpected findings that change the direction of their work. This course is a perfect introduction to I-Corps methodologies and the instructors will help assess what subsequent program makes the most sense for your team. Come find out how the I-Corps process can help you!

Preference will be given to MII awardee teams (current and past) as well as potential applicants to MII. Teams indicating they are potential applicants will need to submit a signed support letter from their Tech Transfer Office, and a letter indicating the target date for MII submission during the application process.

The TEDCO MII I-Corps course runs from May 1st – June 20th, 2018.

For program information, click here.

For program dates, click here.

Click here to complete the application