The AccelerateDC program is currently recruiting research teams that are in the early stages of commercialization. This includes all industries and sectors.  

Selection Criteria:

• Team Commitment – Teams must be willing to commit to the year-long program that culminates with an NSF SBIR Phase 1 Application in December 2018.
• Team Strength – The technical lead and the entrepreneurial lead must have strong technical backgrounds.  The goal of this program is to develop entrepreneurial capabilities to supplement technical skills.
• Technology Reward/Risk Profile – We are looking for bold concepts that carry with them significant product development risk as technologies transition from laboratory research to product development.
• Commercialization Potential – The committee is looking for a thoughtful, and plausible, explanation of how your technology might be turned into a saleable product. Much of the program is dedicated to testing your hypotheses about commercialization. However, strong applicants will have basic ideas about what a product would look like, who would buy it, and who their competitors would be.

Other Eligibility Requirements:

• US companies only.
• Pre-Series A Funding.
• No prior SBIR awards for the proposed technology.

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Note: If you are a deep tech company in the DC region, you need to get your application into the AccelerateDC program by April 15, 2018. The final 2-week regional Intro to I-Corps and Qualification course begins on April 25, 2018. The 2-week regional course is the only means for establishing I-Corps lineage and eligibility for non-university teams to enter the National I-Corps training program and follow GO training.