Ventureprise Launch Accelerator Begins February 2017

Charlotte-area innovators and entrepreneurs seeking to launch ventures to address national and global markets can jumpstart progress by participating in the Ventureprise Launch acceleration program beginning in February 2017.

Ventureprise Launch is designed to get right the most critical phase of commercializing an innovation – the opportunity assessment - through proven customer discovery methods.

Ventureprise Launch is best described as a boot-camp for innovators and is designed to challenge you at every turn. The teaching team delivers direct dialogue, direct feedback, all designed to accelerate this process. The teaching team and industry mentors are experienced, they have been in your shoes and they realize how difficult this initial phase of a startup is to move an innovation to market.

Participating companies will generally include a team of two Entrepreneurial Leads supported by mentors while in the program. Through a 10-week cohort program, participants will make new connections and develop an understanding of evidence-based entrepreneurship. Importantly, they will engage directly with potential customers and others to gain the understanding needed to make a go/no-go decision concerning the next step to advance their business innovation.

Proposed ideas and technologies must involve a technological, business model or business process innovation. This may include but is not limited to proposed ventures related to physical sciences, life sciences, software, informatics, energy, financial services and many others.

Ventureprise Launch strengthens innovation-driven enterprise formation in metro Charlotte by:

• Leading teams through a customer discovery process;
• Teaching teams commercialization and entrepreneurship concepts;
• Assisting teams to move toward a Go/No Go decision.

The Ventureprise Launch program is based on the proven National Science Foundation I-Corps curriculum developed at Stanford University. Ventureprise/UNC Charlotte was selected by NSF in 2015 as one of 51 universities trained to offer I-Corps to its most innovative researchers. Currently, 30 innovation teams annually from UNC Charlotte, North Carolina Research Campus, Davidson College, Queens University and Johnson C. Smith University are eligible to participate.

The NC IDEA Foundation selected Ventureprise to adapt the I-Corps program for use with early-stage, innovation-driven entrepreneurs in metro Charlotte. The Ventureprise Launch accelerator is available at no cost to selected, qualified teams beginning in February 2017. Additional cohorts will be selected for summer and fall 2017 programs.

Applications Deadline

Rolling based on availability: Register by 2/3/17; program Starts 2/8/17.

Contact: Devin Collins at devin.collins@uncc.edu

VenturepriseLaunch_Spring17_NCIDEA.pdf