StartVirginia: Feb. 2023 Heard around Virginia

Vienna defense contractor Aeyon is continuing a trajectory of growth and expansion with new work for NASA, and it hopes to open the door to work with other agencies. Aeyon’s latest win is through MM Technologies, a joint venture between Aeyon subsidiary Manufacturing Technical Solutions and Tysons-based MDW Associates. It landed a $516.9 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with NASA to provide accounting, quality assurance, travel and conference administrative support, financial management, business information services and other duties at seven space centers across the country. Aeyon was formed in 2021 through the merger of Tysons-based Artlin Consulting LLC and Arlington’s Sehlke Consulting LLC, and is a portfolio company of Enlightenment Capital. (DC Inno)

Restaurant software startup MarginEdge, which expects to move from Fairfax County to Ballston in Arlington County, has raised $45 million in Series C funding, bringing the 7-year-old company’s total fundraising to more than $70 million, MarginEdge announced in late December 2022. Founded and led by restaurateurs, the company offers software that streamlines back-of-house activities, including processing invoices, managing inventory, analyzing costs, tracking performance and more. MarginEdge expects to hire an additional “50 or so” people throughout 2023, co-founder and CEO Bo Davis says. (ArlNow)

Prince William County committed $1 million for the IGNITE Startup Grant, which will offer grants of $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000 depending on the applicant’s qualifications. Applications are rolling throughout 2023 and will close Dec. 1, or when funds are depleted. Created in December 2020 with federal stimulus funds, IGNITE has provided funding to 11 startups in the areas of health care, biosciences, virtual reality technology and cybersecurity. Awardees may either currently reside in Prince William or outside of the NOVA EDA region, and they must agree to stay in Prince William for three years after being funded. (News release)

Life sciences startup PS-Fertility Inc. will invest $1.4 million to establish its headquarters and operations in Albemarle County and plans to create 31 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced in January. The company will commercialize a male fertility diagnostic technology that was developed at the University of Virginia, and it will lease 4,000 square feet at 3030 Vision Lane in Charlottesville to serve as its headquarters and house a test kit assembly operation and a diagnostic lab. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

In January, Shenandoah Community Capital Fund introduced the Valley Business Compass, a website that provides a centralized source of local business information for entrepreneurs, including mentorship opportunities, funding, events and other resources available from the northern to the southern valley. Other partners include Shenandoah Valley Partnership and Shenandoah Valley Technology Council. The site is valleybusinesscompass.com. (News release)

A “Shark Tank”-style panel judged Virginia Tech students’ biomedical innovations in December 2022 during the Health Sciences and Technology Hokie Pitch at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC. The semester-ending competition, sponsored by Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black and the institute, involved students from the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health graduate program, who worked with industry mentors and created business plans. The three top teams split $3,500 in cash prizes. The winner was MyoSight, a prediction tool for post-acute coronary syndrome outcomes. (News release)