NSF I-Corps Hub: West Region
Venture Partners at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Boulder is a proud leader of the I-CorpsTM Hub: West Region, one of the . This Hub is a partnership with seven of the top research universities across the Western U.S., including the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
What is I-Corps?
I-Corps programs are designed to help reduce the time and risk of taking promising ideas and technologies to the marketplace. This personalized program helps researchers, entrepreneurs, inventors and problem solvers transform their discoveries into products and services that can benefit society within a community of entrepreneurs, educators and mentors. Anyone from a research or community institution, including those outside the University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ System, is welcome.
Why participate?
- Build relationships and gain skills in an inclusive, welcoming environment
- Chance to win a $50,000 small business grant in the national I-Corps program
- Become part of the I-Corps national ecosystem as an alum with access to resources across the Hub-member institutions
"[The] programs have beenincredibly helpful in transitioningfrom a research discovery mindset inthe laboratory to a market discovery mindset." —Mark Rentschler, ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Boulder Mechanical Engineering professor
The 2025 CEAS Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program provides funding for ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students to engage in entrepreneurship training through I-Corps Hub West related to a disclosed invention.
I-Corps Programming Track at Venture Partners
Follow the Venture Partner at ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Boulder programming track all the way to the National program.
Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop
Offered four times a year by Venture Partners
The program is a three-week workshop with customer interviews designed to help researchers, entrepreneurs, inventors and problem solvers of all types find a market for their innovations. The core concept encourages inventors to get out of the lab and talk to industry decision-makers to find out what problem the industry needs their product to solve.
Research-to-Market (R2M) Customer Discovery Program
Offered twice a year by Venture Partners
This four-week program helps teams through customer discovery and finding a market for their innovation. R2M leverages the nationally recognized Lean LaunchPad and Business Model Canvas methodologies specifically designed for researchers, entrepreneurs, inventors and problem solvers commercializing their innovations.
Teams have three primary members: the technical lead, the entrepreneurial lead and the I-Corps mentor. All three team members participate fully in the I-Corps Curriculum, which provides real-world, hands-on, immersive learning about what it takes to successfully transfer knowledge into products and processes that benefit society. Accepted teams are eligible to be awarded up to $50,000