The IQSS Startup Foundry
The IQSS Startup Foundry
From Insight to Impact
Transforming Social Science Research
Into World-Changing Companies
The IQSS Startup Foundry helps Harvard faculty transform social science insights into scalable technology companies that solve global challenges.
The Untapped Opportunity
The social sciences represent a massive, underexplored innovation pipeline. Quantitative social science methods have improved dramatically, and analytical capabilities have exploded, yet the commercial world remains largely untapped. Most researchers don't realize how their insights could become transformative companies. This creates unprecedented opportunities for academics and the business world.
Bringing together business minds and academic discoveries can create new ventures that make significant contributions to various sectors, including healthcare, education, workplace productivity, and media. This collaboration supercharges knowledge creation and economies. Academia gains real-world datasets, resources, and expertise that accelerate research. Industry gains new companies with defensible competitive advantages rooted in scientific discovery.
The result: substantial public good and commercial value.
Creating New Ventures
Our mission is to foster these collaborations through building an ecosystem and a set of venture creation resources to develop companies that create significant impact on the world. The IQSS Startup Foundry is where it begins.
Academic Founders
For Harvard faculty, our program helps social science faculty amplify their research by (1) transforming select research projects into companies with real-world impact, without leaving their day job, and, in turn, (2) creating new opportunities to further academic research at scales and in areas impossible within any university.
Our specialized ecosystem with technical, legal, and entrepreneurial expertise, integrated with offices across Harvard, extends well beyond the borders of the university. We focus on early-stage concepts while they are still part of Harvard research projects.
Business and Startup Experts
Our network of operating executives and seasoned entrepreneurs works with academics to craft a business model and strategy, as well as other key aspects of early-stage company building.
The IQSS Startup Foundry curates a community of business leaders, investors, philanthropists, and industry experts who share our vision of translating breakthrough social science research into transformative new ventures.
There are several ways to get involved. Please join us!
