NSF ASCEND Engine Launches ASCEND Commercialization Partners to Put Business Expertise Behind Resilience Technologies

Funded engagements open to experienced entrepreneurs and early-career fellows who can help technology teams in Colorado and Wyoming find their path to market

Fort Collins, CO, Oct. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great research doesn’t always have a clear path to market — and the people who could bridge that gap aren’t always the ones developing the technology. The NSF ASCEND Engine in Colorado and Wyoming, led by Innosphere, launched today the ASCEND Commercialization Partners to close that gap. It matches ASCEND Engine researchers across Colorado and Wyoming with Embedded Entrepreneurs and Commercialization Fellows who bring the business instinct, sector expertise, and market judgment the technology needs to move forward. 

This new program embeds paid business talent with NSF ASCEND Engine technology teams who are developing innovative tools for wildfire response, electric and water utility management, space weather forecasting, and biosecurity.  The NSF ASCEND Engine is dedicated to moving scientific discoveries efficiently to adoption to increase communities’ resilience to wildfire, drought, and extreme weather. Each participating technology team was referred from the ASCEND Engine’s research programs and accelerator.

“Some of the most promising technologies in Colorado and Wyoming are waiting on the same thing: someone who knows why, what, and how the customer buys,” said Tim Jones, COO of Innosphere and director of translation for the NSF ASCEND Engine. “ASCEND Commercialization Partners puts business expertise inside the team early, while it can still shape what gets built. ” 

Embedded Entrepreneurs and Commercialization Fellows are funded by Innosphere for 6 to 12 months to work alongside investigators, testing key business hypotheses to bring innovation to market faster.   Deliverables for the short-term engagement might include: stakeholder mapping and customer discovery, value-proposition testing using initial or partially untested products, securing design partners for validation, developing the business model canvas, and analyzing pricing and competition.   Candidates whose expertise fits more than one team may support multiple projects.

Embedded Entrepreneurs are experienced business professionals with deep knowledge of a target sector, such as electric utilities, water, insurance, aerospace, or biotechnology. Commercialization Fellows may be earlier in their careers and combine technical expertise from a post-graduate degree with entrepreneurial experience or interest. 

“We want our teams to respond to validated stakeholder needs, not build technology hoping it solves a problem for someone with or without money.  Every team is at a different stage of innovation, so every engagement will be different,” said Liz Newton, program director for ASCEND Commercialization Partners. “We’re looking for people who want to engage deeply with a researcher, understand the technology’s potential, and then lay the business foundations for serving first customers or scaling up.” 

Applications are open through NOVEMBER 6. Follow the link HERE

About the NSF ASCEND Engine

The NSF ASCEND Engine — Advanced Sensing and Computation for Environmental Decision Making — is a U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine led by Innosphere. Based along the I-25 Innovation Corridor, the ASCEND Engine connects Colorado and Wyoming’s federal laboratories, R1 universities, and technology companies to develop scalable solutions for wildfire, drought, extreme weather, and environmental resilience. Every NSF ASCEND Engine program is built with commercialization as a design requirement — moving scientific advances efficiently from discovery to deployment through three technical layers: advanced sensing and data generation, computational analytics, and decision support tools that translate research into commercial products and public services. Projected 10-year impact: $3B in regional GDP, 18,000 new jobs, and $2B in capital raised by 2034.* innosphere.org/nsf-engine

*Projections provided by Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation

About Innosphere

Innosphere is the Colorado-based nonprofit venture development organization — built for entrepreneurs turning discovery into companies. We bring acceleration, capital, infrastructure, and partners together to advance the region and enhance national competitiveness. Innosphere offers sector-specific accelerators, advances capital access, leads the NSF ASCEND Engine, and convenes the Colorado Innovation Council across four R&D-intensive industry sectors. Cumulative impact since 2013: 400+ companies served, 2,000+ jobs created, $3.6B in capital raised and $300M+ in revenue by client companies. innosphere.org

Kristen Tatti
Innosphere
(970) 221-1301
Kristen@Innosphere.org