NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship has developed an incubator program to support early-stage startups! During the incubator, students will work on furthering their concepts through a variety of fundamental practices like doing customer discovery, exploring business modeling and thinking through commercialization strategy. This friendly, low-stakes and informal cohort is the perfect place to bounce ideas off one another as well as hold one another accountable for tangible next steps for your new venture.
The incubator occurs over a semester, with entrepreneurs joining on a drop-in basis. NC State student entrepreneurs are also eligible for micro funding. Funding can range from roughly $200 to $800 per student (up to $1,000 per team), depending on your venture and it’s needs.
Sessions will alternate between guest speakers and collaborative grind sessions. Guest speakers will be community and alumni founders covering pain points of the startup process, while grind sessions will feature collaborative work as you and your fellow founders take a moment to creatively work through your biggest hurdles. Think of it like a mini hack-a-thon all for your own personal growth!
Throughout the incubator period, participants will also be connected to mentorship and other forms of support. Every other week’s session will kick off with founder updates including what’s working, road blocks, and goals for the week.
Questions can be directed to program lead, Kenneth Proseus at kpproseu@ncsu.edu.
For more information and to sign up for Fall 2026’s LaunchPad, please fill out this form and Kenneth Proseus will be in touch.
Modular Content
Note – modules vary from semester to semester to encourage returning participants, but below is a general outline of what we cover in LaunchPad
Module 1: Customer Discovery Overview
An overview of customer discovery and an introduction to the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.
Module 2: Identifying and Validating Ugh’s
Learning how to identify and validate ughs to make sure your business is solving frustrations, dissatisfactions and unfulfilled desires your customers actually have.
Module 3: Market Research (Understanding Your Opportunity)
A focused lesson on conducting relative market research.
Module 4: Demand Experimentation and Validation
Learn how to test and validate demand for your concept quickly and cheaply.
Module 5: Basics of Prototyping and MVP
Brush up on the basics of developing and prototyping a minimum viable product.
Module 6: Identifying and Validating Customer Satisfaction, Validating Business Model
This topic covers the basics of actually going out and validating customer satisfaction for a product or service, and determining if the business model can work.
Module 7: Pitching and Storytelling
Practice the basics of giving a pitch and telling your story in an engaging way.
Module 8: Next Steps for a Startup and Continued Support with Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programming for Alumni
Innovation and Entrepreneurship will connect incubator participants to resources and opportunities once they have mastered the content offered in the incubator. Continuing support could be for additional programs like the Miller Fellows or Andrews Launch Accelerator, as well as startup competitions and startup packages.
Program Requirements
- All companies in the cohort will be introduced to mentors and advisors in their respective areas and are expected to set up meetings with those individuals. Incubator attendees are required to take part in the campus-wide mentorship program, outside of direct pairings that may be made.
- Companies will get access to a resource database as part of being a cohort member. Additional marketing, prototyping and new venture creation coaching or resources may be applied throughout the program’s duration.
- Incubator sessions will take place in the Albright Entrepreneurship Garage or Entrepreneurship Clinic, and participants will be required to attend in person.
- Startup packages may be created at the conclusion of the incubator, tailored to fit the next steps of each venture that meets core requirements and has proven a runway to commercialization. Startup packages are based on merit, likelihood of commercial success and other requirements established by the NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship leadership team.
- Teams should plan to work from the Albright Entrepreneurship Garage or earmark time specific to building their venture (5-15 hours per week). Teams will benefit from meeting other aspiring founders during meet-ups. Ventures are highly encouraged to share a 1-minute update on their progress each week and engage with alumni speakers/guests.