LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville received $15 million from the National Science Foundation to launch an innovation hub that aims to accelerate product innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development.

What You Need To Know

  • The new NSF Mid-South Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hub is one of only 10 across the U.S.

  • The Mid-South Hub is a collaboration among nine regional research universities

  • The hubs provide entrepreneurship training to researchers working in science- or engineering-based fields, and they aim to build "diverse and inclusive regional innovation ecosystems"

The new NSF Mid-South Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Hub is one of only 10 across the U.S. It's part of the NSF’s National Innovation Network, which helps translate academic research for the marketplace.

The hubs provide entrepreneurship training to researchers working in science- or engineering-based fields, and they aim to build "diverse and inclusive regional innovation ecosystems," according to a press release. 

“As a top-tier, Carnegie Research-1 university, UofL has a strong track record as a driver of technological innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Kevin Gardner, the executive vice president for research and innovation. “We are excited to work with our Mid-South Hub partner institutions to accelerate that work, furthering important and often life-saving technologies, launching new growth-focused companies and creating opportunity here and beyond.”

The Mid-South Hub is a collaboration among nine regional research universities, led by Vanderbilt University and including UofL, George Mason University, Jackson State University, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee State University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee – Knoxville and the University of Virginia. 

UofL’s role in the new hub follows years of leadership as a member of NSF’s I-Corps Site Program, an honor that UofL received in 2015. It was the first in Kentucky, and since then, it has awarded product development training and microgrants to more than 250 innovative faculty, staff and students, according to UofL. 

"Those awards have supported the creation of at least 16 new companies, eight intellectual property licensing agreements and more than $8 million in follow-on funding secured to further product development," UofL wrote in a press release.

The University of Kentucky is the only other school in the state that's in the Mid-South region. 

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