Richmond, Virginia, Feb. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CvilleBioHub, an industry-led 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Charlottesville’s biotechnology industry sector, today announced that it has received a $200,000 grant from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation’s (VIPC) Regional Innovation Fund (RIF), an administered state-funded program that provides competitive grants to leading Virginia-based organizations that support entrepreneurship. CvilleBioHub is at the center of a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Charlottesville region, with many partners across economic development, industry, and academia.
CvilleBioHub’s Project InnoVAte aims to broaden the region’s network capital and connect high-growth, scalable startups in biotech, tech, and other innovation-led sectors to relevant programming and resourcing within the ecosystem.
“We are pleased to provide a Regional Innovation Fund grant to CvilleBioHub to support its efforts to strengthen Central Virginia’s biotechnology industry through engagement, resourcing, and education,” said Conaway Haskins, Vice President for Entrepreneurial Ecosystems at the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation. “The organization aims to double the size of the industry in its geographic footprint by 2030 by creating value and reducing barriers for companies to thrive and grow within the region. Over the past five years, CvilleBioHub has emerged as a linchpin to growing the region’s biotech and life sciences sector and it is serving as a model for other regional biotech hub efforts across Virginia.”
Project InnoVAte includes three initiatives:
- InnoVAte: An expanded Entrepreneurship-in-Residence (EIR) program will support company commercialization and business operations through education and advising for early-stage ventures.
- ActiVAte: Curated high-quality programming for entrepreneurs, ecosystem partners, students, and community members.
- CultiVAte: Ecosystem leader engagement and ecosystem network development to roadmap the region’s future.
“We are honored to receive RIF funding to further the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Charlottesville region, which includes more than 75 companies and 2,000 employees in the biotechnology industry sector,” said Stephany Oettinger, executive director of CvilleBioHub. “As we move into our sixth year, we are confident that the RIF grant will help us support a thriving community of innovators and provide the necessary resourcing and connection so even more companies can start and grow here.”
Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) is a Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation-administered state-funded program that provides competitive grants to leading Virginia-based entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs). RIF grants provide sustaining co-funding for successful ESOs, meaning that RIF grants can be renewed on an annual basis provided that RIF grant recipients continue to achieve projected entrepreneurial outcomes and metrics. The RIF is administered by VIPC’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Division.
Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
Connecting innovators with opportunities. The nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), VIPC is the commercialization and seed-stage economic development driver in the Commonwealth that leads funding, infrastructure, and policy initiatives to support Virginia's innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, and market development strategies. VIPC collaborates with local, regional, state, and federal partners to support the expansion and diversification of Virginia’s economy.
Programs include: Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) | Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) |Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) | Smart Communities | Unmanned Systems | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems | Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) | Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFAP) for SBIR & STTR | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. For more information, please visit www.VirginiaIPC.org. Follow VIPC on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
CvilleBioHub
CvilleBioHub, a designated 501(c)(3) private non-profit organization located in Charlottesville, Virginia that has been actively growing the regional biotechnology/life sciences industry cluster since 2016. CvilleBioHub is dedicated to strengthening the regional biotechnology industry through engagement, resourcing, and education. The local industry is comprised of 75+ private/traded-sector companies working across all aspects of biotech/life sciences to advance human health through innovation. There are more than 2000 employees in the regional biotech/life sciences industry and more than $400M locally invested to date.
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- VIPC Funding will further Charlottesville's BioHub goals to advance entrepreneurship in the area's biotechnology sector and support tech and other innovation-led sectors with resourcing and connection
- VIPC Funding will further CvilleBioHub’s goals to advance entrepreneurship in the area’s biotechnology sector and support tech and other innovation-led sectors with resourcing and connection
