TE 598 | Accelerating Deep Tech Enterprises
Two 8-Week Sessions
Course Overview
Want to develop a viable and feasible business model that leverages your technology? Commercialize your innovations with this academic-based startup accelerator. TE 598 now runs as two connected 8-week sessions.
The fall session focuses on building a business concept and customer discovery. Students who meet program requirements advance to the spring session, which focuses on launching the company.
Projects will typically originate from university- or government-funded research but can come from viable deep tech anywhere within the academic ecosystem. Coaching is provided by entrepreneurs and academics with experience founding and funding successful technology companies.
Fall Session: Accelerating Deep Tech Enterprises I
Build Accelerator
Built for students and researchers with an existing deep tech innovation, technology or venture concept, this course applies proven entrepreneurship and commercialization methods to evaluate commercial potential through customer discovery and market validation.
Participants conduct stakeholder interviews, test key assumptions, assess market opportunities, explore co-founder and key employee needs, build teams and explore pathways to impact and commercialization.
Additionally, teams that successfully complete the course will meet the criteria and be well positioned to apply to follow-on programs, including:
- I-Corps Great Lakes Hub Boost Program with up to $3,000 of funding available
- National I-Corps Teams Program with up to $50,000 of funding available
- Cozad New Venture Challenge’s Later-Stage Track
Register for TE 598: Accelerating Deep Tech Enterprises I | Build Accelerator
Spring session: Accelerating Deep Tech Enterprises II
Launch Accelerator
Students who successfully complete the fall session may be selected for the spring Launch Accelerator, where teams receive more than $50,000 in non-dilutive funding and focus on operations, risk, capital, go-to-market strategy, demand generation, and venture launch.
By the end of the course, teams will be well positioned to pursue pre-seed funding opportunities and have a developed plan for SBIR grant applications. As part of the program, team members will also get access to a plethora of entrepreneurship ecosystem resources on campus, such as innovation spaces, research labs and maker spaces.
Instructors
Professor John Thode leads the course alongside four adjunct instructors, Manas Gosavi, John Renaldi, Craig Scherer and Craig Vodnik — all alumni and entrepreneurial leaders who bring real-world expertise to the classroom.
Academic Accelerator Impact
Led by undergraduate psychology student Xavier Chick, Second Chance Innovations is developing adaptive rehabilitation solutions for stroke survivors experiencing upper-limb weakness. The team is building a wearable assistive device that supports intensive rehabilitation, helping patients increase therapy repetitions and improve movement quality. The team won the $15,000 2nd Place prize at the TE 598 pitch competition in Spring 2026.
Deep Tech Definition:
- Hard Tech | Advanced Manufacturing, Aerospace, AR/VR, Autonomous Vehicles, Drones, AI, Quantum Computing, Robotics, Smart Sensors
- Clean Tech | Agtech, Batteries, Climate Tech, Energy Infrastructure, Renewable Energy, Recycling, Electric Vehicles, Water
- Medical Tech | Biotech, Diagnostics, Digital Health, Medical Devices, Personalized Medicine, Pharma, Public Health
- Digital Tech | Big Data, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Media, Sports Tech, Supply Chain
Eligibility
- Projects will typically originate from university research but can come from viable deep tech anywhere within the academic ecosystem. We define deep tech as technologies based on discoveries and fundamental science and engineering. See additional information below.
- Teams should be beyond the ideation stage and actively developing a product or technology, currently working in the solution–customer fit phase of development.
- At least one member of the team must a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate student and be enrolled in the course. Other team members may be students or researchers and are not required to be affiliated with the university. All team members regardless of enrollment or affiliation are encouraged to take part in group activities and assessments.
- Single person teams are allowed in the fall session but will not be accepted in the spring session.
- If you have questions regarding team registrations, please reach out to John Thode at jthode@illinois.edu.
Questions?
If you have questions about the program, technology requirements or team registrations, please contact John Thode at jthode@illinois.edu.