ABOUT NCIIA

The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance was established in 1995 with the support of The Lemelson Foundation to support technology innovation and entrepreneurship at universities and colleges with the goal to create experiential learning opportunities for students, and successful, socially beneficial businesses.  

With a membership of nearly 200 colleges and universities from all over the United States, the NCIIA engages more than 5,000 student entrepreneurs each year, leveraging their respective school campuses as working laboratories and incubators for businesses and ultimately helping them to bring their concepts to commercialization. 

Since 1995 NCIIA has:

• Funded 350 experiential courses and programs at hundreds of institutions throughout the United States.

•  Funded 391 E-Team (innovative product development) projects that have resulted in 100 new businesses.  These businesses have leveraged more than $140 million in additional funding.

• Engaged 1,600 students via E-Teams and more than 10,000 students via these courses and programs.

• Conducted more than 175 workshops at over 120 universities and institutions.