| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 29, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 2, 2021 |
| Award Number: | 1547984 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Ruth Shuman
rshuman@nsf.gov (703)292-2160 TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $300,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $469,899.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $99,982.00 FY 2018 = $101,072.00 FY 2019 = $50,000.00 FY 2020 = $59,999.00 FY 2021 = $59,900.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1050 STEWART ST. LAS CRUCES NM US 88003 (575)646-1590 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Las Cruces NM US 88003-8001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | I-Corps-Sites |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002122DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
This project, from New Mexico State University's (NMSU) Arrowhead Center, establishes an NSF I-Corps Site for the purpose of supporting university student and faculty research projects as they transition to the marketplace.
NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Sites are NSF-funded entities established at universities whose purpose is to nurture and support multiple, local teams to transition their technology concepts into the marketplace. Sites provide infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to enable groups to transition their work into the marketplace or into becoming I-Corps Team applicants.
I-Corps Sites also strengthen innovation locally and regionally and contribute to the National Innovation Network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors.
The NMSU I-Corps Site is housed at NMSU's economic development arm Arrowhead Center (Arrowhead). Through the I-Corps Site, Arrowhead created Aggie I-Corps, a five-week training program teaching Value Proposition Design and the Customer Discovery process. Aggie I-Corps provides teams with training, resources, networking opportunities, and seed funding to move their ventures towards the market, along with a range of follow-on funding through local competitions, NSF I-Corps, SBIR/STTR, and private investors. Aggie I-Corps is offered three times annually and serves a total of 30 teams per year. Teams are identified through a competitive application process intended to identify innovations across campus in areas typically funded by the NSF.
A novel aspect of the Aggie I-Corps program is the focus on Value Proposition Design as opposed to Business Model Design, which is the subject of most I-Corps and Lean LaunchPad programs. The purpose for the shift to Value Proposition Design is to focus on the two most challenging segments of Business Model Canvas: Customer Segments and Value Propositions. The core hypothesis is that dedicated training using Value Proposition Canvas will serve as a better introduction to entrepreneurship and the Lean LaunchPad methodology than starting with the full Business Model Canvas. If successful, the Aggie I-Corps could serve as a model for introductory entrepreneurship programs and future I-Corps Sites preparing teams for the National I-Corps program.
NMSU and Arrowhead have been growing a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on campus, particularly through their Studio G, NMSU/Arrowhead's student business accelerator. In the past two years, 80 new member startups were added, involving over 150 student entrepreneurs. This rapid growth signifies a large demand for entrepreneurship training at NMSU. Aggie I-Corps is an opportunity to build on this current momentum and offer student entrepreneurs dedicated training and support to pursue their own startups. Aggie I-Corps offers the initial capital for participants to pursue their projects to the point of raising additional funding by leveraging the training and market research gained through the program. Aggie I-Corps positions STEM-based entrepreneurs to win follow-on funding through local competitions, federal funding applications and private investment solicitations.
Aggie I-Corps is having a significant impact on the improvement of the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation at NMSU, which yields dividends beyond the training and funding of Aggie I-Corps participants. The impact goes beyond the university and contributes to the regional ecosystem of entrepreneurship.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
From 2016-2022, Aggie I-Corps, New Mexico State University's (NMSU) NSF I-Corps Site, located at Arrowhead Center (Arrowhead), hosted 20 cohorts and supported 141 student and faculty teams seeking to commercialize innovations. Resulting from Aggie I-Corps, 15 NSF I-Corps teams were awarded, and 97 startups were created. Aggie I-Corps participants received $282,000 in participant support from the I-Corps Site, raised $5.4M in follow-on funding, and created 169 jobs.
In 2017, Aggie I-Corps was leveraged to develop an ongoing series of community accelerator programs supported by non-NSF funding known as Arrowhead Sprint Accelerator Programs. To date, Arrowhead Sprint Accelerator Programs have trained more than 300 additional teams. Teams participated in a program similar to Aggie I-Corps. These programs have had a tremendous response across the state of New Mexico. We have strengthened relationships with entrepreneurship resource providers across the state and have been able to accelerate and support a significant number of ventures we would not have been able to assist otherwise. Additional support for Arrowhead Sprint Accelerator Programs has been won from the NM Gas Company, City of Las Cruces, Economic Development Administration, Small Business Administration, State of New Mexico, and El Paso County. The development of our Arrowhead Accelerator Programs would not have been possible without the foundation and experience provided by our NSF I-Corps Site.
Intellectual Merits: The curriculum model used for Aggie I-Corps was a subset of Lean LaunchPad. Our curriculum focused on Value Proposition Design as opposed to the full Business Model Canvas which is taught during NSF I-Corps. The decision to focus on Value Proposition Design was made for two reasons: (1) Value Proposition Design focuses on Customer Segments and Value Propositions, which were observed to be the biggest challenges at the NSF I-Corps cohorts our staff has attended, and (2) Avoid repetition of NSF I-Corps curriculum and prepare teams to succeed at NSF I-Corps. We refined our curriculum and developed a sound means for teaching Value Proposition Design at an NSF I-Corps Site.
Also, the addition of a Strategic Doing workshop following an I-Corps Site program produced positive results. Strategic Doing has continued to be incorporated into our I-Corps programs, as well as in several other contexts in our entrepreneurial ecosystem, from internal strategic planning to community economic development planning.
Broader Impacts: New Mexico lags behind most states in terms of per capita incomes and has high poverty levels. Despite these factors, New Mexico is a source for substantial innovation at the state's national laboratories and research institutions. Capital and management talent are often cited as limiting factors for innovation-driven startups in New Mexico. Aggie I-Corps directly addressed these issues by offering entrepreneurship training and support to investigate the commercial viability of a technology and position viable technologies for numerous follow-on funding opportunities. The model has been attractive to other entities in the state who have supported the expansion of our Aggie I-Corps program to serve community-based teams and additional student teams supporting the state's economic development goals. The growing activity to support technology entrepreneurs in New Mexico will continue significant advancement of the state's entrepreneur ecosystem and will continue to yield economic development results in the coming years.
Many Aggie I-Corps participants have significantly advanced their businesses as a result of the program and the insights gained. Additionally, through the success of Aggie I-Corps, Arrowhead has raised a significant amount of non-NSF funding to offer community accelerator programs based on the Aggie I-Corps model. These Community I-Corps teams enjoy the benefit of access to the same training and resources offered to Aggie I-Corps teams, allowing them to rapidly advance their innovative businesses.
Last Modified: 11/29/2022
Modified by: Kramer Winingham
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