What we do

Drawing on a rich array of academic and support services offered through the university, the Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute resources and programs help generate new entreprises — ranging from for-profit and nonprofit startups to new research ventures and more — by connecting entrepreneurs and business owners to mentors, maker and other fabrication and creative spaces, and seed funding, as well as additional prospective funders.

Our goal is to nurture entrepreneurs for life. It requires that we seek to develop the whole person, to empower everyone to do good while doing well; to build a life while making a living building products and providing services that bring value to society.

— Ji Mi Choi

Associate Vice President, ASU Knowledge Enterprise

Founding Executive Director, J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute

We are here to help propel entrepreneurial aspirations.

At Arizona State University, we believe that complex problems demand new and different solutions. Whether it’s addressing climate change, eliminating global poverty or reshaping health care, every great challenge requires a dynamic approach and an entrepreneurial mindset. As an institution, we are committed to unlocking and cultivating this mindset in our students and faculty in all degree programs and disciplines, and we do much of this through one university-encompassing initiative, the Edson E+I Institute.

Edson E+I represents the university’s foundational approach to regenerative systems innovation. By working with people from all backgrounds and in every sector of society — from students who dream of starting their own social impact startup to community members navigating the complexities of scalable startups to food truck owners looking for mentorship opportunities — we help turn ideas into reality. We are here to help propel entrepreneurial aspirations.

Edson E+I at ASU is a fantastic example of what is possible when institutions begin to think differently about their “purpose and their role in society. For us, entrepreneurship is the means by which we advance ideas toward a particular outcome, and innovation is the only pathway forward for an institution that thrives on constant disruption and upheaval of the status quo.

— Michael M. Crow

President, Arizona State University