Inclusive Innovation Fund Supports New Programs for Community Entrepreneurs

Released on Friday, July 19, 2024

Polsky Exchange is a startup incubator with work and meeting space and a full schedule of programs and workshops designed to help entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses.

The Inclusive Innovation Fund has awarded $50,000 to the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to launch a new program to support technology commercialization in the community.

The Inclusive Innovation Initiative, a cross-institutional priority coordinated by the University of Chicago’s Office of Civic Engagement and the Office of Science, Innovation, National Laboratories and Global Initiatives, launched the fund in 2023 and has since invested in 16 projects.

The initiative, a partnership between the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, aims to connect local students, educators and workers to the city's growing science ecosystem, foster diverse talent in science and spur economic growth in the historically underresourced South Side.

As part of its second year of grantmaking, the Inclusive Innovation Fund has selected a joint proposal from the Polsky Center and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as one of the projects to invest in. The Innovate2Market program, the first community-centered program for both institutions, is designed to enable inventors and innovators in the community to explore the commercial opportunities and impact of their products and ideas.

The five-week program will feature tried-and-tested elements of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) I-Corps program, along with ongoing comprehensive services provided by the Polsky Centers Exchange and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Each institution will receive $25,000 for a total investment of $50,000.

“The University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have long offered effective and impactful NSF I-Corps programs for university researchers, and this umbrella innovation funding will provide area entrepreneurs with the opportunity to access similar market research and customer discovery programs to test the feasibility of their inventions and innovation-based ventures,” said Abigail Ingram, executive director of the Polsky Exchange.

Polsky Exchange resources include free workspace, access to more than 100 Polsky Center mentors, invitations to events and workshops, access to the Illinois Small Business Development Center, and additional cohort-based growth programs.

“We are pleased to receive Inclusive Innovation funding as it provides an effective way to support equitable economic growth and address funding disparities. Our dedication to inclusive innovation aligns with our ongoing community outreach and commitment to impactful community work,” said Jed Taylor, associate dean for innovation and entrepreneurship at the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will leverage the expertise of the Illinois FAST (Federal and State Technology) Center, a premier resource for innovators seeking SBIR/STTR and other grant opportunities, and which also provides office hours and services for grant applicants.

“The Innovate2Market program was awarded funding because of its commitment to inter-agency collaboration and its ability to expand an already great program format to target South Side community members,” said Sarah Tinsman, director of the University of Chicago's Inclusive Innovation Program. The Inclusive Innovation Initiative aims to create an on-ramp for South Side residents to engage with and benefit from the growing STEM ecosystem across the region, and we're pleased that supporting this program will help more community entrepreneurs seize those opportunities.”

The purpose of the annual Inclusive Innovation Fund is to encourage collaborative academic and community partnerships that advance the strategies and impact goals outlined in the Inclusive Innovation Blueprint plan across four pillars: STEM education, workforce development and employment, economic development, and social infrastructure.

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