USC has a rich startup and innovation culture that offers programs and resources across the university. The programs and organizations listed below can help support and connect USC entrepreneurs.
Programs Offered by USC Stevens Center for Innovation
USC Stevens Legal Office Hours
Our legal office hours program provides complimentary legal assistance, counseling and information materials to all USC innovators (faculty, staff, students and alumni) and USC-related start-up companies. Our services are on-campus and are provided by qualified outside corporate and intellectual property attorneys.
Webinar Series: From Discovery to Commercialization
During the 2020-21 and 2021-22 academic years we hosted webinars for USC researchers who are interested in exploring what it takes to have a successful startup. The series featured guest speakers from a variety of fields, including venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, startup founders, legal experts, and more. The series was co-sponsored by the Stevens Center and the USC Chapter of the National Academy of Inventors.
On-Campus Organizations
Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering (AMI-USC)
AMI-USC bridges the gap between biomedical invention and the creation of commercially successful medical products that improve and save lives. Project teams accepted into the program are typically faculty led but often include graduate research students.
USC Coulter Translational Research Partnership Program
The USC Coulter program supports and funds translational projects that focus on applying developed technologies to solve an unmet or underserved clinical need. The program supports project teams that are interdisciplinary in nature and include faculty members from the Viterbi School of Engineering and clinical faculty from the Keck School of Medicine.
Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC-CTSI)
SC-CTSI is a multifaceted resource for clinical and community-partnered translational research. It provides resources that help investigators move discoveries through the research pipeline and into sustainable public health solutions, including pilot funding, diverse training opportunities, robust clinical research support, digital recruitment methods, community connections, and many other tools to more than 800 investigators working at USC, CHLA, the LA County Department of Health Services and in the communities of Los Angeles. Use their website to find what you need to conduct your research, including investigators in specific research areas and other resources.
Greif Center New Venture Seed Competition
Hosted by the USC Marshall School of Business’ Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, NVSC is an annual startup competition with $85,000 in prize money to help USC startups make their ideas become a reality. The competition is usually in January or February and is open to current USC student, faculty or staff or recent graduates.
Innovation Node – Los Angeles Programs (IN-LA)
IN-LA is a collaboration between USC, UCLA, and Caltech. It is supported partially through the NSF Innovation Corps (“I-Corps”) Program to accelerate technology commercialization, support engineering entrepreneurship and educate innovation leadership. It is focused on teaching entrepreneurial scientists and engineers the skills needed to bring proprietary technology to market, improving the odds of startup success by putting these entrepreneurs in direct contact with potential customers. Those interested in financial assistance for customer discovery and research should consider applying to the LA Node’s BOOM program. Select teams that complete BOOM will be eligible to apply for the $25,000 to $50,000 National I-Corps team grant.
Other Resources
Sign up for the USC Stevens email list to receive announcements about startup competitions outside USC (e.g., West Coast Consortium for Technology & Innovation in Pediatrics, SoCal Innovation Showcase, etc).
Contact USC Stevens at licensing@stevens.usc.edu regarding forming a startup around a USC-developed technology or intellectual property.
See also Competitive grant opportunities for USC researchers, on the Office of Research website, which may have opportunities relevant to USC research- and technology-based startups.
For resources for student startups, including our annual student business competition (USC Stevens Student Innovator Showcase), visit our For Students page.