Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation

VIPC is heading to the 2026 Tom Tom Festival in Charlottesville — and you should too! 🎉 Join us on April 23 for Unlocking Startup Capital: How to Access VIPC Funding Programs — helping Virginia's next generation of entrepreneurs turn bold ideas into funded ventures. What we'll cover: ✅ $50,000 Launch Grant ✅ Convertible note programs ✅ Lab-to-Launch ✅ SBIR support ✅ Pre-seed & seed equity funds Building in tech, cybersecurity, life sciences, energy, aerospace, or dual-use? Whether you're developing an MVP or preparing for your first raise — this session is for you. Not sure if you're a fit? Come find out. Virginia's innovative economy is growing. VIPC is here to help fuel it. ⚠️ Ticketed session — grab your Tom Tom Tickets → bit.ly/4vJMCTF #StateofInnoVAtion #TomTom #TomTomInnovationSummit #VirginiaStartups #StartupFunding

VIPC CEO Joe Benevento had the privilege alongside @RTDNEWS President Kelly Till to moderate an AI Innovation panel at the Big Dipper Innovation Summit featuring four distinguished Virginia leaders: @VCU President Michael Rao, @GeorgeMasonU President @GMUPres, @UVA President Scott Beardsley, and @virginia_tech President Tim Sands. The discussion offered keen insights into how AI is influencing higher education, research commercialization, and workforce readiness — and bold vision for how Virginia leads the next generation of talent and innovation! #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives #BigDipperInnovationSummit #AI #VCU #GMU #UVA #VT

VIPC is on the ground at @AUVSI XPONENTIAL conference connecting with innovators and industry leaders shaping the next generation of autonomous and robotic systems across air, land, sea, and space. From defense and maritime innovation to advanced aviation and robotics, Virginia continues to be a hub for breakthrough technologies. A special thank you to our partners at the @VEDPVirginia, the Virginia Department of Aviation, Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership and @DominionEnergy for their collaboration and for helping us represent Virginia at the VIPC pavilion. #XPONENTIAL #AUVSI #VirginiaInnovation

VIPC was excited to join the @GovernorVA's Economic Development Regional Input Session in the Shenandoah Valley at @JMU, helping drive and accelerate connections with ecosystem leaders across the region. Thank you to Secretary Carrie Chenery, JMU President Dr. James Schmidt, and the Commerce and Trade team for a productive session to support the Shenandoah Valley region and strengthening Virginia’s economic growth and opportunities for all Virginians! #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives

VIPC was proud to be in Roanoke to celebrate the opening of RoVa Labs, a new state-of-the-art 40,000 sq ft biotech incubator where startup entrepreneurs and researchers will now have local access to wet lab space, commercialization infrastructure, talent and capital connections to grow and scale in Virginia. RoVa went from vision to reality because of collaboration with local and regional partners - @CarilionClinic, Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, @City_of_Roanoke, @virginia_tech and the @FralinBiomed, @VirginiaWestern - and leaders like Roanoke City Director of Economic Development Marc Nelson and RBIA President Erin Burcham. Exciting to see the Roanoke Innovation Corridor rapidly grow as a regional tech hub part of Virginia's thriving statewide life sciences innovation ecosystem! #VirginiaLifeSciences #RoVaLabs #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives

Virginia’s success is driven by strong collaboration across local, regional, and state partners. VIPC was thrilled to participate in @GovernorVA's Economic Development Regional Input Session at @GeorgeMasonU today alongside a diverse group of community and industry leaders. Thank you Secretary Carrie Chenery, @GMUPres, Virginia Senators and Delegates, and the entire Commerce & Trade team for an insightful and productive morning focused on strengthening the Commonwealth’s economic future! @C_Herring, @VA_JET, @SenDaveMarsden #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives

Join us on May 15 for Coffee with VIPC's Virginia Venture Partners for a Fireside Chat with Frank V. Taylor, VIPC Investment Director, and Joseph Murray, Managing Partner, DoD Accelerator Fund. DoD Accelerator Fund is a new venture capital fund focused on supporting defense focused early stage startups. Joe was previously CEO of Blue Force Technologies, a defense tech startup acquired by Andruil in 2023. There will be an opportunity for breakout sessions to dive deeper into VIPC's funding opportunities and to ask questions following the presentation. Click here to RSVP: bit.ly/4tjnEYN

Join us for Coffee with VIPC's Virginia Venture Partners -"Making Economic Hay in Virginia: Investing in Agriculture, Ag Tech and Adjacent Spaces." Agriculture is Virginia's large private industry, supporting more than 381,800 jobs, with a total impact of over $105 billion when combined with forestry. The sector is driven by over 41,500 family-owned farms covering 7.7 million acres, focusing heavily on livestock (63% of cash receipts), particularly poultry, cattle, and dairy, alongside key crops like soybeans and corn. Agricultural technology in Virginia drives a billion annual economic impact, focusing on innovation in controlled environment agriculture (hydroponics/aquaponics), AI for crop management, and drone technology for targeted spraying. There will be an opportunity for breakout sessions to dive deeper into VIPC's funding opportunities and to ask questions following the presentation. Click here to RSVP:bit.ly/4cMN9eY #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives #StartupFunding #VVP #VIPC

Great morning at the Virginia Bio Thrive Conference with Secretary Carrie Chenery, @vabio CEO John Newby, @MayforVA, Healthcare Leader Mia Masten and VIPC CEO Joe Benevento. VIPC is grateful for partnership with Virginia Bio and regional partners to collaborate and coordinate the growth of Virginia’s statewide life science innovation ecosystem. #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereinnoVAtionThrives #VirginiaBio #Merck #Elililly #AstraZeneca #ActivationCapital #Cvillebiohub #Nexus234 #ABBM #ODU

Amazing to welcome Secretary of Commerce and Trade Carrie Chenery with VIPC to Charlottesville for @TomTomFest Festival to celebrate Virginia’s innovators and entrepreneurs. The Secretary’s unifying and inspirational opening remarks kicked off a phenomenal Innovation Summit Day. Thank you Paul Beyer and entire Tom Tom team for bringing the community together to connect and continue to find opportunity for positive impact. #TomTomFestival #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereinnoVAtionThrives

Are you a Virginia community college student seeking a summer internship/research experience with NASA? Virginia Space Grant Consortium (VSGC) is accepting applications for the STEM Takes Flight (STF) NASA Research Experience Program. STF provides summer research experiences for students to work directly with NASA research advisors. STF summer research experiences are open only to Virginia community college students! Placements are available at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton and at Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore. Apply here: bit.ly/3Pa5Ykq Don’t miss this incredible opportunity to launch your future in STEM! #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives #STEM

Your coffee is brewing! Join us on Friday, May 1 for the next installment of Coffee with Virginia Venture Partners, hosted by Virginia Venture Partners at VIPC. This session will offer a closer look at VIPC’s funding opportunities, followed by breakout discussions where attendees can dive deeper, ask questions, and connect directly with the team. Click here to RSVP: bit.ly/4cMN9eY #StateoInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives #StartupFunding #VVP #VIPC

Virginia is home to world class university research hubs and VIPC’s statewide Lab-to-Launch collaboration is now accelerating commercialization, lowering costs, and unleashing innovation into the marketplace faster than ever before to drive real-world impact. CEO Joe Benevento delivered a presentation to the National Association of University Research Parks I2RP Conference in Manassas, sharing how we are leading the way in growing Virginia’s innovation ecosystems, through the power of partnership and finding win-win solutions. Thank you Amy Adams and @GeorgeMasonU for hosting and to our amazing mission-driven ecosystem partners all across the Commonwealth! @UVA, @GeorgeMasonU, @virginia_tech, @VCU, @williamandmary, @ODU, @activationRVA, @vabio #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereinnoVAtionThrives #ResearchCommercialization

VIPC President and CEO Joe Benevento recently presented to the @VAChamber alongside Deputy Secretary of Commerce Kristen Dahlman. Joe shared how VIPC is growing Virginia’s innovation ecosystems to attract talent and capital, while accelerating growth, opportunity, and impact through collaboration and public-private partnership. Thank you to Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Keith Martin and Board Chair Jen Siciliano for supporting Virginia innovation and entrepreneurship. Virginia is where innovation thrives! #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereinnoVAtionThrives #VirginiaChamberofCommerce

Calling Virginia faculty researchers with breakthrough ideas! The VIPC Higher Ed Proof-of-Concept Grant Program supports university innovations with strong commercialization potential, helping move promising technologies closer to market. If you are considering applying, now is the time to coordinate with your technology transfer office and Office of Sponsored Programs to prepare your submission. Applications are due April 30 at noon. Explore program details and apply: vipc.org/funding/he-poc/ #StateofInnoVAtion #HigherEdResearch #ResearchCommercialization #TechTransfer #InnovationFunding

Recently, VIPC President and CEO Joe Benevento attended the Virginia Space Consortium Board of Directors meeting at Old Dominion University alongside chair, Tim Sands. It was inspiring to hear from student scholars sharing impactful STEM research, as these opportunities highlight the next generation of talent driving Virginia's space innovation ecosystem. #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereinnoVAtionThrives #VirginiaSpaceGrantConsortium #OldDominionUniversity

Inspired by women entrepreneurs like Kelley Powell Williamson, and her story of passion and purpose that has led to the exciting launch of Kelley Kouture. Read more about Kelley’s story here: bit.ly/4mDvgnm #WomenEntrepreneurs #VirginiaEntrepreneurship

Inspiring day for innovation and entrepreneurship in Virginia with AgroSpheres' founders Payam Pourtaheri and Ameer Shakeel, along with @GovernorVA, Secretary Carrie Chenery, @AgForestryVA, @DelegateCallsen, @LauferFor55, and VIPC CEO Joe Benevento to celebrate the grand opening of AgroSpheres’ new biomanufacturing facility in Charlottesville. VIPC was proud to be an early supporter of this Virginia homegrown AgTech/Biotech startup and it’s exciting to see cutting-edge science and technology scale up to drive real-world impact. Virginia is the best place for innovators and entrepreneurs to launch, grow, and thrive! #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereinnoVAtionThrives #AgroSpheres

Join us for an upcoming webinar exploring how strategic competition, foreign influence, and U.S. government scrutiny intersect with innovation and startup growth. This founder- and investor-focused session will unpack Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI), covering how risks emerge, what draws attention from federal agencies, and how teams can navigate these dynamics early. Led by Cyrus Miryekta, CEO of @ravelinhq, the discussion draws on real-world intelligence and national security insights to help innovators move forward with greater clarity and confidence. 📅 March 17 | ⏰ 1–2 PM ET 💻 Virtual webinar 🎟️ Free for Virginia-based companies & universities Register to learn how to build, scale, and protect innovation in an increasingly competitive global environment. Learn more and register: bit.ly/4trtxUt #StateofInnoVAtion #WhereInnoVAtionThrives

Your coffee is brewing! Join us on April 17 for the next installment of Coffee with Virginia Venture Partners, hosted by Virginia Venture Partners at VIPC. This session will offer a closer look at VIPC’s funding opportunities, followed by breakout discussions where attendees can dive deeper, ask questions, and connect directly with the team. More details coming soon - stay tuned! #VentureCapital #Startups #Innovation #Virginia #Entrepreneurship