What is Moonshot?

Moonshot at NACET solicits pitches from those ambitious, disruptive innovators whose plans hold commercial possibilities. If accepted, these entrepreneurs and their ideas are put through an educational track geared at developing a minimum viable product or an investment-ready business by the program’s end. We also help other cities create eco-systems of entrepreneurship like we've done in Flagstaff. In short, we help provide assistance to the risk takers and change makers in the West.
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What makes Moonshot unique?

  • We are a non-profit organization which means we don't take equity from the companies we assist. 

  • We are looking for experts in their fields (in all sectors) who need assistance with scaling a company or bringing an invention or product idea to market but don't have the business acumen needed to make that happen. Check out this list of companies who are currently part of Moonshot at NACET.  

  • We don't onboard a client unless within the first year, we know we can provide connections to one of the 3 C's: 
    • ​Capital
    • Clients
    • Connections for scale

  • In addition to our educational programs and mentorship, we have a beautiful campus called Northern Arizona Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NACET) in Flagstaff, AZ specifically designed for entrepreneurs who need light manufacturing space, office space, laboratory space, and more. Learn more about our space. ​(NOTE: Entrepreneurs do not need to reside at NACET to be a part of our program.)
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  • We're nationwide. Other cities outside of Flagstaff, AZ and Chandler, AZ have turned to us to help them create entrepreneurial eco-systems within their towns through our LAUNCHPAD partnership program and our upcoming events. 
Moonshot helped us create a business idea in under two years, prove the business model, grow strategically and now scale to meet the overwhelming global demand for our products and services.

Dan Kasprizyk, CEO/Founder, POBA Medical

The History of Moonshot Thinking

President John F. Kennedy
As a concept, Moonshot entered our collective consciousness in 1961, when President John F. Kennedy challenged us to envision a world in which an American astronaut could climb aboard a spacecraft, rocket hundreds of thousands of miles into the void, leave his bootprints on the Moon and return safely home. The term "moonshot thinking" was born that day. No one knew how to do it, everything was theoretical, and lives would literally be on the line but the president pledged the full force of America’s talent and treasure to achieve that goal by the decade’s end.

Flagstaff has a rich history of moonshot thinking having hosted Apollo astronauts who were training for what they would find when they landed on the moon. We're proud to adopt moonshot thinking in our everyday operations as well as our name, Moonshot at NACET. 
PHOTO: On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced his goal of putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Photo credit: NASA.