I-Corps is a highly-experiential, 7-week-long program. Each team will receive a $2,500 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for their participation in the program. Participants are expected to dedicate an average of 4-7 hours per week to the following program activities and requirements.In 2014, the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation launched the Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to empower UChicago scientists, researchers, and students to test the commercial potential of their research and ideas. Supported with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and run by the Polsky Center, the I-Corps program is specifically designed for participants working on projects related to the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Participants are not required to have previous experience in business or entrepreneurship in order to be accepted into the I-Corps program.

The Wildfire Pre-Accelerator Program at The Garage seeks to accelerate student teams by giving them additional resources and coaching over a period of 10 weeks. We aim to help them to reach problem solution fit, and prepare them for the next phase of their ventures whether it’s customer acquisition, growth, fundraising, or applying to accelerators. Wildfire culminates with Demo Day, where students will present their proposal and gain feedback from established judges. This is a program designed to help early-stage ventures learn, grow, and overcome obstacles preventing the launch of their ventures.