Alaska Startups

[Peter] Reminder: Applications Close tomorrow, Nov 14.

Reminder: Applications Close tomorrow, Nov 14.

NSF Funded I-Corps Innovation Training Program

Are you a researcher, innovator, or aspiring entrepreneur sitting on a brilliant idea that could change the world? Instead of thinking of what your market needs, you can be out there, engaging with potential customers, unearthing critical insights, and understanding the demand for your innovation.

The National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps program gives you the skills to learn how to validate your assumptions, pivot when necessary, and build a robust pathway from discovery to viable solution. It's an intensive, hands-on program designed to rocket your groundbreaking concepts from the lab into the real world.

This program is available to University of Alaska faculty, staff, and students as well as the broader community in Alaska. The I-Corps program is delivered a few times each year and lasts approximately four weeks.

Teams obtain customer feedback that will help launch your product/business or develop an evidence-based commercialization strategy. Our I-Corps program, as part of a wider Hub project, https://www.nwicorps.org/. Key institutions include UC Berkeley (lead), Oregon State University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Washington.

For those looking to validate an idea or iterate to build something people want, customer discovery is a must. This is your feedback loop, if you want your startup to grow and scale.

I-Corps Customer Discovery Program: Winter Cohort

Application Close: Nov 14, 2025

Application Form: https://bit.ly/I-Corps-Hub-Northwest-Form

Training starts: Nov 25, 2025

Workshops: Nov 25, Dec 1, 8, and 15 [5 - 7 pm Alaska time, Virtually on Zoom]

Any questions please contact Prof. Peter Webley at [email protected]

[Peter] Launch Alaska's Eve Downing has a write up on Anthony van Weel and his experience with Kartorium and UAF's Students2 Startups Program.

From Student to Software Developer: How Kartorium Helped One Alaskan Find His Place in Tech — Launch Alaska When University of Alaska computer science student Anthony van Weel set out to find an internship, he knew exactly what he didn’t want: a generic IT role.  “It’s easy to find a job doing IT,” he said. “Not so easy finding a job in Alaska doing programming.”  Through the univers...