CSUN I-Corps and Customer Discovery Program

Do you have an innovation or technology that you think is ready for market?

Are you interested in customer discovery around your innovation?

Are ready to commercialize your innovation?

Are you interested in participating in the CSUN I-Corps Site Program?

What is it?

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently awarded CSUN with an Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Site Program grant to support commercialization of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) innovations and entrepreneurship at CSUN.

The I-Corps grant will provide as many as 30 teams per year with up to $3,000 each to explore an idea, product or service in the STEM fields to determine its viability on the commercial market.

We’re excited to announce the Spring Semester I-Corps program. This program will be run each Semester and over the Summer, so there will be a number of opportunities to participate.

The goals of this Program are to:

Accelerate the commercialization of new technologies, products, and services that arise from the nation’s academic institutions

Nurture students and/or faculty who are engaged in projects having commercial potential and help take ideas to market

Develop active, local innovation ecosystems that are connected to a larger, national network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors

Encourage collaboration between academia and industry

Prepare local teams to engage competitively in NSF’s National I-Corps Teams Program and in SBIR and other competitions that support entrepreneurship

Interested? Here’s How to Participate in I-Corps:

Applicants do NOT need previous commercialization experience, a developed venture concept, or any protected intellectual property in hand. This program is designed specifically for curious students, researchers and nascent academic entrepreneurs.

Teams will be selected based on an online application received by the deadline. Applicants will be notified of selection decisions by email. We expect to fund up to 10 teams per semester. Teams that do not have an Academic Lead or an Industry Mentor will be assisted with finding these team members.

Biweekly office hours will be held starting in June to answer questions on the program and provide guidance to teams. If you have questions about this program, your eligibility, the application, or the selection process, contact Research and Graduate Studies at icorps@csun.edu.

To learn more, please join us at the next Lunch and Learn being held on May 23rd at noon at the Sierra Center Colleagues Room. Please RSVP here.

I-Corps Summer Semester Timeline

Before June 11th:

Complete the I-Corps Application Form:

http://www.csun.edu/research-graduate-studies/research-sponsored-programs/csun-i-corps

View 2 min video on Business Model Canvas: http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas/bmc

Populate the Business Model Canvas for your team and email to icorps@csun.edu

June 11th 10am-2pm: ZAP Session 1 USU-Van Nuys

Teams will introduce themselves and their Business Model Canvas

Instructor-led sessions on Intro to Value Proposition and Customer Discovery

June 18th 10am-2pm: ZAP Session 2 USU-Van Nuys

Team presentations on Value Proposition and Customer Discovery. Teams are required to have completed at least 5 customer interviews since ZAP Session 1.

Late June-September: online Lean Start-Up Program becomes available

Teams:

-complete online video coursework (Total course time: ~3.5 hrs)

-complete at least 20 additional customer interviews

-are eligible for up to $3,000 to be used for customer discovery

-have access to a mentor network

September 2018: Team Final Presentations

Teams are then ready for the next phase. This may include:

– entering Cii, the campus incubator, or the new campus accelerator

– entering the LACI Incubator

– applying for I-Corps National Program and up to $50,000 in funds

– applying for additional grant funding, such as NSF SBIR grants

August/September 2018 Recruit for Fall Teams