NCInnovation, NC IDEA, and RIoT Kick Off New Cohort with Urgent Focus on Commercialization
NCInnovation (NCI), in partnership with NC IDEA and RIoT, welcomed its newest cohort of funded research teams with a half-day kickoff program centered on how to turn breakthrough research into viable products and technology that will positively impact the lives of others.
Rachael Newberry and Tom Snyder from RIoT led several sessions, guiding researchers, their Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIRs), and identified business partners through fundamental business principles. Their emphasis was clear success depends not only on strong research, but on solving real customer problems and building sustainable pathways to market. “The market doesn’t want your research; it wants what your research can do,” Snyder told participants. NCInnovation ia focused on solving North Carolina problems or challenges and then figuring out how to scale those solutions nationally.
Newberry added that researchers must step into a CEO mindset: “You are creating commercial entities, not just leading research projects. That means learning enough about business to build the right team, keep costs low, and connect with customers.”
Barry Ryan of NC IDEA underscored how his organization’s collaboration with NCI and RIoT strengthens the state’s innovation ecosystem. “We want to be strong advocates for this work, in our words and in our actions,” Ryan said. “While many are pulling back, North Carolina should be pushing forward. Focus and urgency are what will carry us through. With programs like this, we’re giving faculty the tools, networks, and EIR support they need to move from the lab to the marketplace.”
Ryan highlighted NC IDEA’s long track record of supporting entrepreneurs across the state, noting examples of past grant recipients who went on to secure venture capital and bring biomedical innovations to market. “It can take time,” he acknowledged, “but embedding entrepreneurs early helps shorten that journey.”
Michelle Bolas, Chief Innovation Officer at NCI, placed the day’s discussions in a broader statewide context. “Our future as a state depends on seizing the next wave of industry opportunities,” she said. “We’re anchoring this work in our public university system, in applied research, and in the needs of the commercial sector. We’ve reached a tipping point. North Carolina is already a top-five biotech state, but the innovation race is accelerating. We must move with urgency, and NCInnovation is here to help pull together the partners, resources, and momentum to do just that.”
Bolas emphasized that the program’s model: pairing researchers with Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and connecting them to NC IDEA and RIoT’s extensive networks, is designed to show the General Assembly and the public the tangible economic outcomes of state investment in research commercialization.
