Building ‘Out of This World’ Startups with NASA
Accelerating commercial space innovation through a custom startup accelerator with NASA Ames Research Center.
The Challenge
The Ames Research Center, located in Silicon Valley, is a leading NASA research facility with a vast catalogue of patents in advanced technologies, ranging from robotics to quantum computing. While rich in innovation, these technologies often remained underutilized due to the gap between research and real-world application.
NASA needed a way to accelerate the creation of more space and frontier startups and to expose early-stage entrepreneurs to the commercial potential of its IP. However, it lacked direct pathways to connect with qualified startup founders at the pre-seed stage, where technology decisions and licensing opportunities are most viable.
The Founder Institute was uniquely positioned to address this challenge. With its structured accelerator model, global reach, and a strong track record of building successful frontier technology companies, FI could bring qualified founders into direct contact with NASA’s innovation pipeline.
The Solution: NASA Advanced Technologies Accelerator Program
To connect founders with NASA’s intellectual property and commercialization opportunities, the Founder Institute designed a dedicated “NASA Accelerator Track” integrated into its Silicon Valley program.
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1NASA-Powered Recruitment & Technology Curation
FI recruited talented entrepreneurs aligned with a curated list of NASA-patented technologies identified for their commercial potential. NASA actively contributed to company selection and IP matching.
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2Mentorship & Curriculum Integration
NASA experts participated in the program, supporting founders through talks, webinars, and mentorship. The curriculum was augmented with insights from NASA’s Tech Transfer office to help evaluate, license, and commercialize selected technologies.
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3National Expansion & Vertical Tracks
Building on the program’s success, NASA launched new verticals with FI, including the AI & Robotics Accelerator in 2021 and the Quantum Accelerator in 2022, expanding access to high-impact technologies.
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4Structural Model for Future Engagement
The partnership created relationship models and templates that enabled NASA to increase its engagement with U.S. companies and replicate the program’s framework across its network.
Key Takeaways
This initiative became a scalable model for bridging government innovation and startup execution, highlighting FI’s unique ability to support space and frontier tech startups at the pre-seed stage.
Results
A scalable commercialization model for NASA innovation was established, connecting pre-seed founders with high-potential technologies. It expanded to support a broad range of frontier tech sectors, including quantum computing, AI, and robotics. The collaboration was formalized through a Non-Reimbursable Space Act Agreement between NASA Ames and the Founder Institute.
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FI and NASA recruited talented entrepreneurs -
NASA launched new verticals with FI
- 3
- Dedicated Accelerator Tracks Launched with NASA
- 10+
- Companies Supported by the Program Engaged with NASA IP
- 2
- FI Alumni, Ceres Robotics and Atomos Space, Deployed into Space
By collaborating with FI, NASA Ames is able to create relationship models and templates that will lead to forging new opportunities for additional Silicon Valley partnerships – and a bigger pipeline of (technology) license candidates for NASA.
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More About Founder Institute
The Founder Institute (FI.co) is the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Since 2009, we have helped tens of thousands of employees and new/ idea-stage entrepreneurs validate, test, and launch startups worth an estimated $30BN+. Our mission is to activate and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build meaningful technology businesses worldwide
The Founder Institute is the world’s most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups, and startups into global businesses. Since 2009, our structured accelerator programs have helped over 7,500 entrepreneurs raise over $1.85BN in funding. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 100 countries, our mission is to empower communities of talented and motivated people to build impactful technology companies worldwide.
