NobleReach Selects Two Regional Innovation Hubs To Strengthen Pipeline of Critical Technologies for National Security

NobleReach is collaborating with select regions within the U.S. National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps^TM) Hubs to define a national blueprint for sustained innovation ecosystems of talent, capital and capabilities. This blueprint will accelerate the translation of university research breakthroughs into new technologies for U.S. national and economic security.

Washington, DC — [May 27, 2026] — NobleReach™ Foundation today announced it has selected the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps^TM) Southeast Regional and the Mid-South Regional Hubs to participate in its Science to Venture (S2V) pilot, a program designed to help move high-potential university research out of the lab and into real-world use.

This announcement builds on an initiative announced by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in August 2025 to accelerate the “lab-to-market” path for emerging technologies with national security relevance. In that announcement, NSF noted the effort would engage two NSF I-Corps Hubs, regional networks that help researchers gain hands-on experience in customer discovery to bring promising ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace.

“Breakthrough research only achieves its promise when it turns into real-world outcomes,” said Sree Ramaswamy, Chief Innovation Officer at NobleReach. “Science to Venture is creating a national blueprint for stronger regional innovation ecosystems by opening up early access to capital and talent, so that great ideas don’t get stuck on their journey from lab to market.”

Why these two regions

NobleReach selected the two research regions based on the strength and connectedness of local commercialization resources, the readiness of local partners to participate, and the opportunity to accelerate deep-technology innovation that can deliver economic impact while strengthening U.S. national security.

Both regions host research with significant potential for public benefit and national security impact. The Southeast Regional Hub seeks to advance ecosystem strengths in semiconductor, photonics, optics, aerospace and defense-related technologies. Meanwhile, the Mid-South Region Hub collaboration does the same in advanced manufacturing, advanced materials, and biomedical engineering.

“Deep-tech translation is essential to U.S. national security, and it requires more than great science; it requires the connected ecosystem capabilities to support entrepreneurship and business value generation,” said Dr. Erwin Gianchandani, NSF Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. “This pilot helps address a key need by strengthening the supporting networks, talent, and resources, and the connective tissue between them, that enable promising innovations to move from discovery to adoption.”

Participating universities include:

• Southeast I-Corps Hub: University of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of South Florida, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

• Mid-South I-Corps Hub: Vanderbilt University, University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, and University of Tennessee.

Delivering lasting impact

Over the next two years, Science to Venture will focus on building lasting local capacity, helping each region strengthen the people, processes, and partnerships needed to move more university innovations toward real-world adoption.

That includes working side-by-side with university staff and local ecosystem stakeholders to develop and share practical commercialization best practices, building a common language of translation across stakeholder communities, expanding access to experienced entrepreneurs and subject-matter experts, strengthening pathways to pilot and test opportunities, and helping lay the groundwork for early-stage capital to support promising technologies when they’re most likely to stall.

Across both regions, the program expects to support 20 projects over two years while producing replicable frameworks and tools that regions can continue using after the pilot, and that can be applied in other parts of the country.

###

Media Contact
Grant Haver
Director of Digital Marketing

edward.haver@noblereach.org

About NobleReach Foundation
NobleReach™, a nonprofit based just outside Washington, D.C., seeks to strengthen our nation’s security and prosperity through talent and innovation. We inspire the next generation of changemakers to bridge the divide between the private, public, and academic sectors to solve big technological challenges. Drawing on our network of over 50 university partners and our curriculum programs, our talent initiatives provide federal, state, and local governments with top mission-driven STEM talent, and our innovation programs transform cutting-edge research into ventures in the national interest.