Author – Ethan Bochicchio
At the University of Southern California (USC), the Office of Research and Innovation (OORI) is turning early-stage ideas into real-world impact, as demonstrated by the success of Corresi. Starting in 2024 through the OORI-funded Innovation Empowerment Initiative, a part of OORI’s Innovation Catalyst Program, Corresi quickly developed into a launched app aimed at simplifying access to money from class action lawsuits, recognizing that 91% of settlement funds go unclaimed. Since its debut on the Apple App Store last August, Corresi has already gained over 2,000 users, showcasing how OORI’s support can help transform an innovative idea into a growing, user-driven platform.
Corresi was created to address the complexity and confusion often involved in claims processes, which usually involve complicated legal language, multiple steps, and letters or emails that many people overlook or mistake for scams. Corresi simplifies this process by guiding users through the claims and filing on their behalf. The service is entirely free, designed to help users access money they might otherwise forfeit. As Corresi states, “The legal system is slow, but your money shouldn’t be.” Through their app, Corresi has automated the entire claims process, making it fast, simple, and secure.
OORI supports and advances USC’s research ecosystem by providing leadership, infrastructure, and guidance to faculty, students, and research teams across the university. The office aims to foster an environment where new ideas can develop into impactful discoveries while facilitating translation and ensuring that research activities meet the highest standards of integrity, compliance, and collaboration. By connecting scholars with resources, partnerships, and administrative support, OORI helps link academic research and innovation, contributing to scientific progress, economic development, and broader societal benefits.
The Innovation Empowerment Initiative is a key part of achieving these goals. This award opportunity is a competitive program designed to support promising ideas from USC’s undergraduate and graduate students and their faculty mentors as they pursue groundbreaking research and innovation that can be turned into intellectual property for social and economic benefit. More information about these opportunities can be found on the USC Innovation Ecosystem Website (https://innovation.usc.edu).
The success of Corresi highlights the impact that OORI’s early-stage support efforts can have on student-led innovation at USC. In 2024, as undergraduates, Kimya Jalinous, Devin Martin, and Sade Korbieh received $15,000 through OORI’s Innovation Empowerment Initiative to help grow their startup, Corresi. This vital funding helped the venture succeed, allowing the Corresi team to take important first steps, including forming the company as an LLC, securing a trademark, and developing a fully functional minimum viable product. Founding member Sade Korbieh commented on the initial funding,
We were extremely grateful to be a part of this program. It taught us so much about our company. After initial user testing…we found a market with law firms to do direct plaintiff acquisition through our app. This transformed Corresi into a direct marketing funnel for law firms to get warm leads interested in their services.
This progress reflects both the strength of the Corresi team and the value of targeted institutional investment in student entrepreneurs. By helping transform a promising idea into a functioning product with an expanding user base, the Innovation Empowerment Initiative demonstrates how OORI fosters innovation that can extend beyond the university and provide meaningful services to the broader public. The Corresi team was one of only nine recipients in 2024.
Programs like the Innovation Empowerment Initiative play a crucial role in helping early-stage ideas move beyond the concept phase and into real-world application. In the case of Corresi, this support provided the foundation needed to develop, launch, and grow a platform that addresses a widespread gap in access to class action settlements. As demonstrated by its progress, initiatives like this not only support student innovators but also contribute to solutions with broader public impact.