Who We Are

Background

In 2017, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced that California State University, Northridge (CSUN) would be one of the newest Innovation Corps Sites designated to educate faculty, students and the community on entrepreneurial principles. Our goal is to equip faculty and students with the tools and methodology to identify the most critical questions and develop creative answers to enable them to develop a sustainable, scalable venture to address unmet market needs.

What is the NSF Innovation Corps Program?

The CSUN Innovation Corps Sites program will support teams through critical market and commercialization evaluations associated with a specific CSUN developed idea or technology. CSUN runs a variety of different types of programs around Innovation Corps such as the flagship 10-week training program. Both the CSUN Innovation Incubator (Cii) and Summer Accelerator employ the same Innovation Corps methodology. For each program, teams are formed and ideally comprised of a multi-disciplinary group of people with different skill sets or interests in technology, business, and design. Students may also apply independently to join teams for the 10-week program or the CSUN Innovation Incubator or Summer Accelerator programs. Faculty from all colleges and department are encouraged to apply for the 10-week program.

Program Benefits

Teams that attend a minimum of 5 online working sessions, complete the online video coursework (~3.5 hours total commitment), and conduct at least 25 customer interviews are eligible for up to $3,000 in NSF funding.

Funds can be used for: