The Washington State University (WSU) Site of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) I-Corps (Innovation Corps) program serves as a launchpad for faculty and student innovation at Portland State University (PSU) and across the region, nurturing the transition from idea to the marketplace. Completing the WSU I-Corps program has given two PSU startup companies, AirOmatix, and Lite Devices, the foundation necessary to bridge the gap between the lab and commercialization.
The WSU Site I-Corps program follows the LEAN Startup methodology, which emphasizes a learn-build-measure feedback loop. Client discovery is a central component of this process, which involves conducting interviews with prospective customers, allowing teams to identify appropriate customer segments for their products, with up to $2,000 awarded for travel costs. These interviews are critical for assessing a pathway to market and enable teams to work on the value proposition of their technologies.
In 2020 Lite Devices, a Portland State University (PSU) startup company working toward a solution to early wildfire detection through an autonomous network of remote sensors that detect the characteristics of wildfires (temperature, smoke, C02, infrared light and moisture), participated in the WSU I-Corps. Client discovery was critical in mapping out the company's trajectory.
Customer discovery interviews illuminated market areas, such as the logging and energy industries, that weren't part of Lite Devices' initial business plan, enabling them to tailor their technology to suit each distinct market's needs.
"These discussions drove our product development," said Kai Brooks, PSU graduate and CEO of Lite Devices. "We decided to keep our engineering, including our PCB (printed circuit board) layouts, reasonably broad so that we can customize units based on customer needs without having to redesign our product from scratch. Now building units to customer specification is straightforward, and they can pick and choose what type of data to track."
Completing the WSU Site I-Corps makes teams eligible to apply to the national I-Corps program (called the NSF I-Corps), which has a more rigorous curriculum. Completing the program also allows teams to apply for NSF SBIR/STTR (Small Business Innovation Research/ Small Business Technology Transfer) grants. I-Corps participants also receive mentoring from industry affiliates who guide teams in drafting grant proposals while providing insights to the product market.
AirOmatix, a PSU startup whose technologies center on improving oxygen concentrators in medical applications, participated in the WSU I-Corps in the Fall of 2019. Since completing the program, Airomatix has secured lab and office space at the Portland State Business Accelerator (PSBA), has a pending NSF grant and is on track to hire more personnel in the coming year. The company was also accepted into and completed the NSF I-Corps program in June of 2020.
Both the WSU and NSF I-Corps helped define AirOmatix's focus. The company also explored implementing its technology in food storage and hand sanitizer development before settling on medical applications.
Theresa McCormick, co-founder of AirOmatix and associate professor of chemistry at PSU, credited the WSU Site I-Corps with the company's progress to date. "The I-Corps program was a great experience that prepared us for the nationals, and it set us up for where we are now," McCormick said. "Without it, I'm not sure we would have formed a company."
Lite Devices has also been accepted to the NSF I-Corps and will join the Winter 2021 cohort. The NSF I-Corps program also focuses on client discovery and provides travel costs up to $50,000 per team for conducting customer discovery interviews.
Established in 2016, the WSU I-Corps has helped teams secure over $4 billion in additional follow-on funding. The WSU I-Corps is one of 99 I-Corps Sites that support an innovation ecosystem nationwide.
The WSU I-Corps are held on campus as well as remotely via Zoom. Participating teams are required to devote at least 8-10 hours a week to the program. Interested applicants need not have prior entrepreneurial or business experience and can learn more about the program and apply online at Washington State University's website.