STARTUP Central is led by Continuum Educational Technologies (CET) in partnership with the University of Kansas and KU Innovation Park. STARTUP Central will help the Central region address a persistent gap between its robust and well-established research activities and the development of a comparable pipeline of academic entrepreneurs seeking to commercialize the many innovations resulting from this research.

STARTUP Central is one of the IDeA Stage Regions to receive a National Institutes of Health STTR award through the IDeA Regional Entrepreneurship Development (I-RED) Program. Through the program, CET will develop and launch a smart online learning management system to inspire researchers and academics to embrace innovation, translation and impact.

STARTUP Central will stimulate the commercialization of technological innovation in the Central IDeA state region (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma) by addressing the entrepreneurial educational needs of investigators to better translate scientific discoveries and technologies from research laboratories into commercial products that improve human health and promote economic growth.