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Innovation center could be boost for life sciences
Kipton Currier envisions Virginia joining other mid-Atlantic states to form a super region for the life sciences industry. Before that happens, the state must secure some key ingredients missing from the ecosystem, namely sufficient lab space for biotech startups. Activation Capital, the brand name of the Virginia Biotechnology [...]
StartVirginia: September 2023 Heard Around Virginia
McLean-based Affect Therapeutics, a substance addiction therapy startup, raised $16 million in a Series A funding round to expand its operations and further develop its mobile app. The company delivers therapy and treatments for specific substance use disorders through its app. The company plans to use much of the money it raised to expand into […]
Son’s cancer fight inspires startup
The sight of Neal Piper’s then-3-year-old son, Noah, stuck on the couch all day, tethered to an IV pole with a feeding tube after the boy’s cancer diagnosis in 2019 put his father on a new mission. Piper, who had 15 years of experience in commercializing health care products, including 10 years in sales, marketing […]
Virginia accelerators vie for SBA award
During a virtual meeting of Virginia energy stakeholders in late June, Dominion Energy Innovation Center Executive Director Adam Sledd posed a question: How can Virginia become a leader in climate technology innovation? That’s the kind of ambitious vision that Sledd hopes will carry DEIC to victory in the second and final stag[...]
U.Va. biolab seeks to catalyze region’s growth
Thomas Barker says his seed-stage startup wants to find “modern, modular, functional lab space” to allow the company he co-founded, Vasarya Therapeutics, to be “very efficient and optimal on our research enterprise.” But good lab space is hard to come by in Charlottesville, and what exists is spread around, “so you don[...]
StartVirginia: Heard around Virginia
Activation Capital, a Richmond-based innovation incubator, will redevelop a 102,000-square-foot innovation center in the Bio+Tech Park in downtown Richmond. The 34-acre Bio+Tech Park is a commercial life sciences hub adjacent to VCU Medical Center and has more than 70 companies, research institutes and state/federal laboratories on its campus. Announced June 2, the $53 million center […]
Pivot points
Talk to those on the front lines of startups — entrepreneurs, investors and those running incubators and accelerators — and one word comes up over and over: pivot. If an entrepreneur isn’t able or willing to be flexible, chances are poor their business will succeed. “Those unduly connected to what they started with must [...]
The ol’ college try
Snacks and energy drinks are often the fuel for young entrepreneurs burning the midnight oil while perfecting their pitches and products. But for some University of Richmond students, snacks and energy drinks are their products. Grace Mittl, a 2022 UR graduate, is co-founder and CEO of Absurd Snacks, a food allergy-friendly trai[...]
Starting small
Randal Wimmer became a multi-millionaire based off a contract proposal he wrote at his kitchen table and at a Northern Virginia Starbucks. A Navy veteran, Wimmer started his own government contracting firm, McLean-based Analytic Strategies, in 2003. It took three-and-a-half years and a lucky business connection for the company t[...]
A new economy
Welcome to the inaugural edition of StartVirginia, a product of Virginia Business magazine. While our editors have chronicled the economy of our commonwealth for more than 37 years, it’s almost impossible to start at the very beginning. Our state traces its business beginnings to the Virginia Company, chartered in 1606 by King[...]
Commentary: Compete to win through innovation
Innovation and startups are key elements of a vibrant and healthy economy. Startups are responsible for most of the significant technological breakthroughs in recent years, and these new businesses create jobs, drive market competition and lead to a higher standard of living. Virginia has helped launch many great innovation succ[...]
The elevator pitch
Virginia’s startup scene is rich with new businesses as diverse as the regions of the commonwealth. Virginia Business asked startups to send us their best pitches for what makes their businesses innovative, and we’ve spotlighted some of our favorites below. BABYLON MICRO-FARMS Richmond CEO: Alexander Olesen Founded: 2017 Capital raised: $15 million Employees: 35 About […]
