Reaching Innovators in Small and Rural Communities: 2024

The NSF I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast (IN I-Corps Hub) is focused on building an inclusive innovation network that will accelerate entrepreneurship and economic development for deep technology innovators based in rural areas and small cities.

In 2024, the IN I-Corps Hub ran 27 regional courses and piloted programs to expand training opportunities for Rural innovators, Deaf innovators and Underrepresented Minority innovators.


IN I-Corps Hub course participants are making regional impact:

in follow on funding

businesses started

people employed

Map of the northeast region of the United States with New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia Highlighted
Cornell University Founded A.D. 1865
Dartmouth College
RIT Rochester Institute of Technology
Syracuse University
Binghamton University State University of New York
UB University at Buffalo
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
The University of Vermont
West Virginia University

Reaching more teams in more places

During I-Corps courses, STEM researchers learn how to test the market potential of a scientific innovation using “customer discovery” interviews. To maximize I-Corps learning opportunities for participants across a large, low density geographic region, the IN I-Corps Hub ran 1-2 virtual courses per month for researchers from any STEM field.
The Hub also ran 8 ‘hybrid’ regional courses that combine two weeks of virtual training with funded travel to an industry conference where teams could do lots of customer discovery in one place. Hybrid course topics for 2024 included AgTech, Optics/Photonics, Clean Energy, Biotech, Semiconductors and Battery Tech.

In 2024, the IN I-Corps Hub led

regional courses for

of which

came from small & rural communities, and

were accepted to National I-Corps

A large group of I-Corps participants stand outside near a stone structure that says "JPL."

“The [I-Corps] course played a key role in telegraphing to innovators that this is a problem that NASA is pursuing and to join us in optimizing your science or technology to help address this major societal natural disaster.”

– Maggie Yancey, Entrepreneurship Lead at NASA

NASA I-Corps Pilot: Wildfire Management Hybrid Course

In April, NASA and the IN I-Corps Hub collaborated on a specialized hybrid course for wildfire technology management innovators, including teams from NASA’s MSI Incubator. This immersive pilot included virtual training and sponsored travel to Pasadena, CA to attend the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA) Wildfire Technology Management Conference and to tour NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Based on the success of this pilot, NASA and the IN I-Corps Hub are planning two new hybrid courses in 2025.

Supporting Rural Innovation

The IN I-Corps Hub’s use of virtual and hybrid courses is proving to be an effective strategy for engaging and supporting innovators based in rural areas and small cities. In 2024, 66% of the IN I-Corps Hub’s regional teams came from small & rural areas.

“Special cohorts” where all participants come from a specific partner program are another course format that shows promise for rural innovators. In February, WVU piloted an I-Corps regional course for finalists from IgniteWV – a program created to provide budding entrepreneurs with the education, skills, contacts, and motivation necessary to create a viable startup, or grow an existing company in West Virginia. 16 teams from the two competition tracks (“Main Street” and Deep Tech”) participated in this regional course, and the program will run again in 2025.

Broadening Participation

Collaborating with the NASA MSI Incubator Challenge

Finalists from the NASA MSI (Minority Serving Institution) Incubator program’s 2024 Wildfire Management Challenge won slots in the IN I-Corps Hub and NASA co-led Wildfire Management Hybrid course. Future collaborations are being explored.

Preparing the first ever I-Corps course in American Sign Language (ASL)

RIT is developing a regional I-Corps course model, for and by Deaf and Hard of Hearing innovators, to be delivered in American Sign Language, rather than spoken English, for the first time ever. In June, RIT led a course in a combination of English and ASL. A team of Deaf instructors from RIT and Gallaudet University, who completed the Hub’s Instructor training and observed the June course, will lead an all ASL course in October.

4th Annual GEM Fellows Hybrid Course with Customer Discovery Trip to NYC

Cornell and the National GEM Consortium co-hosted their fourth regional I-Corps course for GEM Fellows in science and engineering who are Black, Native American, and/or Hispanic in July. Nine teams joined this year’s course, bringing the total number of GEM Fellows who’ve participated in this program to 34 since 2021.

Instilling Inclusive Teaching Practices across the NIN

All IN I-Corps Hub regional instructors receive training on how to recognize and disrupt implicit bias and create an inclusive learning environment. This inclusive training model has been recognized by other I-Corps Hubs, including the Northeast, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic who are using the IN I-Corps Hub’s training for their instructors and mentors.

“We always start with research because we think it’s going to make a big difference or because it’s going to solve a problem. One important thing we learned from I-Corps to validate the customers’ needs. We’re going to invest so much time, effort, money – how do you know it’s useful if you don’t talk to your customers?”

– Dr. Nancy Guo, Founder of Sostos

Instructor Training for Inclusivity

two people look with masks look at through a microscope
Soctera wins $1M SBIR Award for Semiconductor Innovation  6381 3589 I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast

Soctera wins $1M SBIR Award for Semiconductor Innovation 

The SBIR award supports the commercialization of Soctera’s power amplifier which will help boost signal range and incentivizes broadband coverage in more rural areas through reduced costs.

Verde Technologies Receives Liftoff Contest Award to Develop Flexible Solar Energy Modules  2560 1707 I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast

Verde Technologies Receives Liftoff Contest Award to Develop Flexible Solar Energy Modules 

Verde Technologies, a 2021 I-Corps alumni company from the University of Vermont, is developing a lightweight and flexible way to capture solar energy using perovskite. 

DNA
Sostos Hits Milestones for Cancer Treatment AI Technology 2560 1440 I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast

Sostos Hits Milestones for Cancer Treatment AI Technology

Sostos, an I-Corps alumni startup developing a cutting-edge AI technology for cancer treatment optimization, recently secured two SBIR Phase I grants — a $275K award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a $400K award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Photo: Safe Pro AI technology
I-Corps Alumni Make Humanitarian Impact in Ukraine 963 583 I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast

I-Corps Alumni Make Humanitarian Impact in Ukraine

Safe Pro AI, co-founded by Binghamton University alumni Jasper Baur and Gabriel Steinberg, is a Safe Pro Group company leveraging AI and machine learning to detect, label, and map mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). 

Start Typing