The National Innovation Network (NIN) is a national network of university-based researchers and innovators created by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help turn scientific discoveries into successful commercial products and new ventures. It connects over 900 research teams across 58 university sites and 8 regional nodes. By teaching customer discovery and lean startup methodology, the NIN has helped launch over 324 new companies. It provides a national community for collaboration, mentorship, and resources to support innovators in commercializing their research.

1. NSF I-Corps™ National
Innovation Network (NIN)
Building a Nation of Innovators

2. What is NIN?

3. NIN
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is cultivating a pipeline of
university-based researchers who can turn ideas into successful
commercial products, and equipping our nation’s science and
technology faculty and students to be creative, technologically
savvy leaders.
Through its partnership with VentureWell, NSF has connected
local program leaders from across the country to form the
“National Innovation Network” (NIN).

4. An Audacious Experiment
This emerging movement of innovators is a key component of
the NSF’s I-Corps™ Program, which has grown rapidly from an
‘audacious experiment’ in teaching university researchers how to
use customer discovery to commercialize scientific discoveries
into a national network.
NIN has helped develop:
• 900 teams, from 203 colleges and universities
• More than 324 of these teams have launched companies

5. Lean Startup Methodology
The NSF started I-Corps™ in 2011 when it adapted lean startup
trailblazer, Steve Blank’s Lean LaunchPad class for aspiring
Stanford entrepreneurs, creating an accelerated seven-week
curriculum to train university researchers to start companies that
have developed new technologies based on NSF-funded
research.

6. NSF and VentureWell
The NSF has scaled its curriculum and dramatically expanded the
community of emerging scientists and engineers by partnering
with VentureWell, a not for profit higher education network with
21 years of experience in fostering innovative experiential
entrepreneurship programs at universities and colleges
worldwide.

7. NIN Network

8. A Network that Turns
Scientific Discoveries into
Ventures
The National Innovation Network:
• Engages I-Corps™ university researchers who are working on
campuses across the country, pushing the boundaries of science
and technology to improve peoples lives.
• Connects them to a national pipeline of collaborators, mentors,
and partners.
• Prepares them with cutting-edge tools and educational resources
to form successful startups and commercialize their products.

9. I-Corps™ Nodes and Sites
University of
California-San Diego
San Diego State
University
University of Utah
University of California
at Los Angeles
University of
Southern California
University of Washington
Brigham Young University
Oregon State University
BAY AREA NODE
MIDWEST NODE
University of California Berkeley
University of San Francisco
Stanford University
IN-LA NODE
University of Southern California
University of California at Los Angeles
Caltech
SOUTH NODESOUTHWEST
NODE
University of Texas at Austin
Rice University
Texas A&M University
NYCRIN NODE
City University of New York
Columbia University
New York University
DC NODE
University of Maryland
Johns Hopkins
Virginia Tech
George Washington
Michigan Technological
University
University of Minnesota
Twin Cities
University of Texas
at San Antonio
University of Houston
Tulane University
University of
Alabama
University of
South Florida, Tampa
University of
Central Florida
University of North
Carolina, Charolotte
University of Louisville
Howard University
University of Iowa
University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Purdue
University
University
of Chicago
University of Toledo
University
of Akron
Carnegie-Mellon
University
University of
Pittsburgh
Rochester Institute
of Technology
University of Rochester
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
University of Delaware
New Jersey Institute
of Technology
University of Pennsylvania
University of Connecticut
Stony Brook University
Arizona State
University
Dartmouth College
Jackson State University
Louisiana State University
Missouri S&T
New Mexico
State University
Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
Rensselaer
Polytechnic
Institute
Tennessee Technological
University
University of Arizona
University of Nevada
Las Vegas
University of New Hampshire
Washington State University
Wichita State University
UPSTATE NY NODE
Texas A&M University
University of
Alabama
at Birmingham
Johns Hopkins University
Cornell University
Brandeis University
University of
Massachusetts
Lowell
Georgia Institute of Technology
University of Alabama
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Michigan
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Purdue University Cornell University
Rochester Institute of Technology
University of Rochester

10. Who is in the Network?
People and organizations engaged in I-Corps™ programming:
• Nodes- Institutions that support regional needs for innovation
education, infrastructure, and research. There are 8 Nodes across
the country involving 26 universities.
• Sites- Institutions that support teams whose technology concepts
are likely candidates for commercialization. There are 58 Sites
across the country.
• Teams- Researchers with an innovation and commitment to
exploring its commercial potential. Each team has a Principal
Investigator, an Entrepreneurial Lead, and a Mentor. There are
more than 900 Teams.

11. NIN Benefits
1. Improvements to innovation and entrepreneurship programs
2. Institutional culture change to promote regional collaboration
3. Compelling national brand that enables regional impact
4. Successful adaptation of curriculum by multiple federal
agencies
5. Unique mission that is transforming the scientific field of
innovation and entrepreneurship

12. NIN Benefit:
Improvements to Innovation
Directors and faculty at each Node benefit significantly from
their ability to tap into NIN for knowledge-sharing with their
colleagues across the country. Training content remains
cutting-edge and each Node disseminates new developments to
the schools in its region. VentureWell has developed a
faculty-training program with Steve Blank and Jerry Engel to train
faculty members from institutions across the US in this
methodology.

13. NIN Benefit:
Promote Regional Collaboration
Multi-institutional Nodes are founded on strong new
partnerships forged by the I-Corps™ program. NIN has
succeeded where previous efforts have failed to establish
partnerships in the regions where we work. Simply applying for
an I-Corps™ Node grant has catalyzed new partnerships between
institutions that recognize the opportunity to join NIN together
as a new Node.

14. NIN Benefit:
Compelling National Brand
The NIN brand enables the network to be greater than the sum
of its parts, capturing the combined research horsepower of top
universities and the entrepreneurial energy of the silicon valley
start up culture with a strong connection to NSF’s tradition of
research excellence. As a result, the NIN community has
achieved regional impact that would otherwise not have been
possible.

15. NIN Benefit:
Successful Adaptation of Curriculum
The NIN has catalyzed a host of successful adaptations of the
I-Corps™ curriculum by multiple federal agencies including:
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Department of Defense (DoD)
• Department of Energy (DoE)

16. NIN Benefit:
Unique Mission
Edmund S. Pendleton, Director of DC I-Corps ™ Regional Node
and VentureAccelerator at Mtech, University of Maryland
• ”What really makes the NIN so powerful is simply the network
effect. We now share best practices and collaborate across
universities, states, and the entire country. “
Keith McGreggor, Director of South I-Corps ™ Regional Node and
Director of VentureLab, GA Tech
• “The most important thing about the NIN is that it exists. There is
nothing else like it.”

17. NIN Activities
Annual NIN Meeting
• The network has convened annually for the purposes of learning
from each other, discussing challenges and planning the future as
our programs continue to expand and evolve.
Regular webinars on key issues/best practices
• Every month we convene the leaders of the Sites and Nodes to
share what they are doing and learn from each other.
Regional meetups
• Quarterly meetups are hosted regionally by sites and nodes
NIN Homepage and Blog
Social media and online discussions

18. Contact Information
On the Web
• www.venturewell.org/i-corps/nin
• www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/
VentureWell Staff for I-Corps™
• Tara A. Loomis, tloomis@venturewell.org
• Marie Silver, msilver@venturewell.org
• Gila Aispuro, gaispuro@venturewell.org
NSF Program Officers for I-Corps™
• Lydia McClure, lmcclure@nsf.gov
• Anita La Salle, alasalle@nsf.gov
• Steve Konsek, skonsek@nsf.gov