Illinois gains I-Corps accelerator

University of Illinois is set to gain a virtual branch of the I-Corps deep tech accelerator sponsored by US government research body National Science Foundation, Built In Chicago reported yesterday.
An initial batch of 11 teams will join the university’s R&D and skills centre, Discovery Partners Institute, to have their concepts matured over seven weeks.
Additional participants will be admitted into a second cohort in September 2020.
The teams include faculty, graduate students and researchers from University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University and Northwestern University.
Each will be equipped with a $1.8m federal grant to kickstart their business, and will receive “lean” coaching which focuses more on market research away from the lab.
Participants in the initial cohort include Light Blue Learning, an online mental health platform geared towards school children, and Arisu Surface Technologies, a Northwestern University concept involving materials for heat exchangers.
Integrated Radiological Image Search, a DePaul University business, will participate to commercialise a data-driven search engine for radiology cases.
Jed Taylor, executive director of the Technology Entrepreneurship Center at University of Illinois, said: “Launching a deep tech startup out of an academic research lab is risky business.
“I-Corps helps to improve the chances of a new venture’s success by applying the scientific method, which academic founders are already familiar with, to the new venture creation process.”