Georgia Tech is the leading institution of the I-Corps South Node and is managed from VentureLab, an on-campus incubator. Georgia Tech has extensive experience forming companies from university research, and was selected in 2012 as one of the three initial institutions to house an I-Corps Node through its VentureLab incubator. VentureLab serves Georgia Tech's faculty, staff, and students who seek to launch startup companies from the technology innovations they have developed. Since its inception, VentureLab has supported the launch of hundreds of startups, which combined have attracted over $1.5B in outside capital. VentureLab makes use of Georgia Tech’s entrepreneurial resources and connections to help move scientific research from the lab to the marketplace. Additionally, Georgia Tech has had 60+ teams complete the national I-Corps Teams program.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is an internationally renowned research university and academic medical center. UAB is Alabama’s largest employer, with 23,000 employees, and an economic impact in Alabama exceeding $5 billion annually. The 2,214 faculty rank among the nation’s best-funded and are noted for exceptional mentoring and training — from undergraduate researchers to post-doctoral fellows. UAB has more graduate student enrollments than any other Alabama university (more than 6,000). This diverse group of graduate students are pursuing degrees in 50 master’s programs and 37 doctoral programs. UAB’s exceptional student body of roughly one graduate student for every two undergraduate students gives UAB a unique culture and identity as the major hub in Alabama for innovation, research, and entrepreneurial activity.

The University of Tennessee has a strong tradition in research and enjoys a close partnership with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Technology commercialization is foundational to the entrepreneurial culture surrounding the East Tennessee Region. The University is proud to have been selected as an I-Corps Node partner in 2016. Tech Commercialization efforts are led by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, which sponsors programs that provide startup capital to new ventures. The Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is the flagship entity for developing the entrepreneurial culture on campus as well as connecting resources and capital in the community.