Milwaukee I-Corps /  Great Lakes Hub Affiliate

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as an I-Corps Site of Southeastern Wisconsin (2015-2021) and a Great Lakes I-Corps Hub Affiliate (2022-present), the Milwaukee I-Corps Program offers researchers and entrepreneurs a chance to explore the viability of their technologies and ventures through the “Lean Startup” or “Lean Launch” process of direct engagement with the potential markets. Through a five-week workshop, participants are coached on designing and validating a business model around their idea and deciding whether the idea is a go/no-go decision based on their business model.  Regardless of the go/no-go outcome, teams will develop valuable skills in discovering the market – skills that will inform their research, business, and careers.

WE ARE ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE SPRING 2024 COHORT
Rolling Admission: OPEN
PROGRAM DATES: March 4 – April 1, 2024

222 Teams

36 Business Formations

7,711 Interviews

$27,356,878 Raised

Program Details
Apply Now
Trained Teams

In the News

The Milwaukee NSF I-Corps program really got the ball rolling for our biotech startup, Essential Biotechnology LLC. We were unsure what approach to take to make our company into something that would interest investors and potential acquiring pharma or biotech companies. I-Corps helped us to do that.

- Dr. Michael James, Assistant Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin

My participation in I-Corps was enlightening. The concepts that I learned will be useful for future product development, but an added bonus was that the customer discovery process leveraged my research which will be an asset as I move forward in my tenure track position.

- Dr. Michele Polfuss, RN, CPNP-AC/PC, Assistant Professor, Nursing, UWM

The Milwaukee local I-Corps site experience is simply outstanding. Through a series of 40 face-to-face customer interviews, the Milwaukee I-Corps program has given each of my student teams the tools - and mindset - needed to effectively determine whether our technologies truly are worth the effort and research dollars.

- Dr. Robert Scheidt, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University

I found the I-Corps experience to be extraordinarily valuable. It provided insights into your business proposition and helps to establish contacts and relationships that add tremendous value to your endeavor.

- John Burfeind, MD, Staff Physician, Medical College of Wisconsin

When you see great engineering coupled with great business, naturally there’s an outflow of entrepreneurial activity.

- Gene Wright , Director of MSOE’s Rader School of Business

I-Corps made our startup possible in a way that we never would’ve expected. It’s turning physicists into capitalists.

- Dr. Carol Hirschmugl, President and CEO, Safeli, LLC