TE 598 AI1 | Venture Development of Deep Tech Enterprises

This academic-based startup accelerator will mentor teams in the process of commercialization. Projects will typically originate from university- or government-funded research but can come from viable deep tech anywhere within the academic ecosystem. 

This program will explore principles of building a valid business model including customer discovery, building a team, lean startups, minimum viable product, competition, intellectual property, revenue models, operations, business risks and analogues, market research, raising capital, and marketing. 

Coaching will be provided by entrepreneurs and academics with experience in founding and funding successful technology companies. 

Funding will be made available for customer discovery and minimum viable product development. As part of the program, team members will get access to a plethora of entrepreneurship ecosystem resources on campus such as innovation spaces, research labs, and maker spaces. 

After the conclusion of the semester, an extracurricular event will be offered, where teams will have an opportunity to earn additional funding.  

Projects will typically originate from university research but can come from viable deep tech anywhere within the academic ecosystem. We define deep tech as technologies based on discoveries and fundamental science and engineering. 

Students who are interested in this program are required to form teams and submit applications for acceptance to the program. Teams and projects will be selected based upon the highest potential of successfully starting an enterprise. 

This course is open to all students on campus, pending approval of the application. Teams may include internal or external members as long as there is at least one University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign student team member enrolled in the course. All team members are encouraged to take part in group activities and assessments.