Services and Programs

Design Thinking Workshops and Consulting

Use human-centered design to understand your customers and find effective solutions faster

Led by Innovate Carolina’s resident design thinking practitioners, our design thinking workshops and consulting sessions allow you to create products, services and processes that are adapted to your customers’ needs, delightful to use and truly innovative.

Our human-centered design experts are skilled in the world-renown IDEO method and will work with you to apply tools, mindsets and methods that focus on customer empathy, iterative ideation and experimentation. These sessions will help you and your team.

These sessions will help you and your team:

• Understand what your customers need.
• Find targeted solutions before you spend too much time and money.
• Create customer-focused technologies, products or services.
• Launch new ventures that are positioned for success.

Workshops, Events and Projects

Build a stronger startups and businesses by connecting to industry experts, student talent and investors.

Innovate Carolina’s venture services include a variety of programs that facilitate interaction and collaboration among new ventures, student talent, small businesses, large corporations and investors.

Event-based services

• Industry workshops. Explore industry-specific technical demands and trends.
• Industry focus groups. Receive industry input on specific business or research problems.
• Advisor presentation meetings. Meet with industry and subject matter experts who provide feedback on early ideation-stage opportunities.
• Investor/partner networking events. Make key business connections and exploring potential funding paths.
• Reverse pitches. Engage with investors and industry experts who present business challenges that can lead to partnerships or potential funding for your startup.

Project-based services

• Venture Catalyst Program. Grad/MBA/doctoral students and postdocs team with research entrepreneurs to investigate and advance ideas.
• Industry fellowships. Student fellows/interns work in concert with industry partners and faculty focused on similar fields.
• Industry advisory committee. 15 to 20 industry experts meet quarterly to review your research or ideas.
• Business development. Identification and outreach to potential partners or investors for projects/proposals.
• Opportunity zone assessments. Consultations with opportunity zone (OZ) experts to evaluate business location fit and OZ investment opportunities.
• Grant writing support. Federal SBIR/STTR grant writing services from professional grant writers.

Community and Industry Exchange

What if you had a direct conduit for building strategic relationships with business leaders in private industry, academic researchers and up-and-coming entrepreneurs?

Innovate Carolina’s Community and Industry Exchange Program helps you make connections among industry experts and university faculty and staff and students – strategic relationships that you can rely upon to help grow your business.

• Virtual and in-person events and meetings. Meet and network with industry leaders and campus-based entrepreneurs from across the region.
• Corporate connections. Tap into UNC-Chapel Hill’s industry relationships to gain introductions to and build between your startup or small business and large corporate partners.
• IP licensing and contracts. Work with Innovate Carolina to create awareness among large corporate partners about opportunities to license your startup’s intellectual property or contract your business services.
• Student fellows and interns. Build relationships with enterprising students who can work with your company as student fellows and interns on business and technology development.