Princeton University to lead new regional entrepreneurship innovation hub

The National Science Foundation has awarded $15 million to Princeton and other partner universities in the Northeast to create a regional entrepreneurship innovation “hub” that will seek to grow startups in health care, energy and the environment, computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, and other fields. The hub will also work to encourage more diversity in the startup world.

One of five new hubs announced by the National Science Foundation this week, the network of universities, which will share a physical space near the Princeton University campus, is being formed with the goal of accelerating the economic impact of federally funded research while building skills and opportunities among researchers from all backgrounds, including people historically underrepresented in entrepreneurship.

Princeton will be the lead institution in the new network. The University of Delaware and Rutgers University will be partner institutions. The hub will include five initial affiliates: The New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rowan University, Lehigh University, Temple University, and Delaware State University. The hub will add new affiliates each year.

“Princeton is excited to lead this initiative to develop the talent and dynamism of our region’s researchers,” Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber said. “I am especially pleased that the hub will assist those who historically have faced barriers to opportunity and expand the societal impact of new discoveries and innovations.”

The hub will provide entrepreneurial training, mentoring, and resources to enable researchers to form startup companies that translate laboratory discoveries into breakthrough products and services, with a focus on understanding the needs of potential customers, the exploration of industrial processes and practices, and confronting the challenges of creating successful ventures based on scientific discoveries.

“Rutgers is excited to partner in forming this hub, which speaks both to our region’s excellence in scientific research focused on our nation’s most urgent challenges and to its incredible diversity,” said Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway. “This will help us provide an opportunity to a new generation of researchers and spur growth in our innovation ecosystem.” 

The program is based on the lean startup methodology, where innovators rapidly iterate on their products and business plans based on customer feedback and market needs. Delaware State University, a historically black university, will co-lead the hub’s efforts to establish new partnerships with minority-serving institutions.

“The University of Delaware has a deep commitment to groundbreaking research and a successful history of moving those discoveries out of our labs to fuel the creation of businesses and other ventures, so we are thrilled to be a partner in the NSF I-Corps Northeast Hub,” said University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis. “This initiative will open doors of opportunity for underrepresented populations and connect our diverse community of innovators with others throughout the region to benefit our entire economy and society.”

Rodney Priestley, Princeton University’s vice dean for innovation and the co-founder of several startups, will be the co-director of the hub. Julius Korley, director of entrepreneurship and strategic partnerships in the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware, will co-direct the hub. Princeton and the two partner institutions, Rutgers University and the University of Delaware, will assemble entrepreneurial instructors for training programs, recruit mentors, and offer entrepreneurial programming for teams that apply to participate in hub activities.