Anyone committed to exploring the commercial potential of an idea can apply! However, you may improve your outcomes by building a team with these 3 roles:

Entrepreneurial Lead – An undergraduate or graduate student, postdoctoral researcher, or community innovator who leads the team and is committed to conducting customer interviews and reporting insights throughout the program.

Technical Lead – A technical expert, faculty member, staff member, advisor, researcher, or business partner who supports the team by offering deep knowledge of the core product or technology being explored.

Industry Mentor – An individual with entrepreneurial, industry, or commercialization experience who guides the team by offering insight into real-world applications, market fit, and customer engagement.

No – Anyone committed to exploring the commercial potential of an idea can apply! 

However, to qualify for the National I-Corps Teams Program, individuals must have a technology connection to a higher education or research institution.

The Great Plains Regional Hub currently partners with universities in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, and Montana.

No. You must complete a Regional I-Corps Program and complete a minimum of 20 customer discovery interviews before gaining eligibility for the National I-Corps Program.

Additional eligibility requirements are but not limited to:

• University-Owned Intellectual Property 
• A full team comprising of an Entrepreneurial Lead, Technical Lead, and Industry Mentor.

We prefer that all team members can attend all the sessions, but if not all are able to, make sure at the very least the entrepreneurial lead (EL) on the team can attend all the meetings and serve as the primary contact.

Serving as a mentor for the Great Plains I-Corps Hub is a great way to give back to the community and help further build our local entrepreneurial ecosystems in the Midwest.

To be a mentor for the Great Plains Regional I-Corps, you should be an experienced entrepreneur or corporate innovator comfortable working with early-stage, deep-tech teams. Mentors help the team recognize and reduce confirmation bias throughout the customer discovery process. They participate in all cohort activities, whether at the Regional, or National I-Corps level. 

If being a mentor sounds like the right fit for you, complete our Mentor Interest Form and someone from our team will reach out to you in three business days.