Virginia IPC

06/10/2026

Coffee with VIPC's Virginia Venture Partners - "Are you actually venture-scale, or just a strong small business?"

Join Coffee with VIPC's VVP for a Fireside Chat on Friday, June 12 at 9:00AM with VIPC's, Dustin Dunbar, VIPC Senior Investment Associate, and Debbie Irwin, Executive Director of Lighthouse Network to talk about what it really means to be venture-backable, how that differs from building a small business, and how founders can tell which path they’re actually on. Neither path is “better” but they are very different games with very different rules. We’ll dig into the signals that matter to the kind of company you’re really trying to build.

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: https://bit.ly/4hWjfpo

06/09/2026

Innovation can unleash opportunity, but it’s collaboration that drives success” was the key theme shared by CEO Joe Benevento — and we celebrated both last night at VIPC’s Hampton Roads ecosystem reception hosted at beautiful Old Dominion University with 100+ community leaders, research innovators, and startup entrepreneurs.

Impossible to thank everyone but much gratitude to Sarah Jane Kirkland and the entire ODU team; participating state representatives Delegate Jackie Hope Glass, Delegate Delegate Virgil Thornton, Sr., and Senator Emily Jordan; ecosystem builders like Tim Ryan of Innovate Hampton Roads and the entire amazing team from 757 Collab; university partners from Hampton University- Official, William & Mary, Virginia Wesleyan University, Christopher Newport University; local/regional EDA’s; industry and investors; and our real stars — the incredible founders and entrepreneurs showcased throughout the evening!

VIPC is proud to find new opportunities to partner and grow together throughout all of our ecosystem communities across the Commonwealth.

06/03/2026

VIPC is hosting an in person workshop on Thursday, June 4, 2026. This workshop is a fast, founder- and investor-oriented introduction to how strategic competition, foreign influence, and U.S. government scrutiny increasingly intersect with advanced technology development.

The session places Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) in its operational context: how states pursue access, how influence is exercised indirectly, and how early signals shape outcomes long before any formal review or enforcement action occurs.

Topics include:
•How foreign state and state-aligned actors engage U.S. innovators today, including current collection trends, indirect access strategies, and soft-power engagement across research, startup, investment, and scaling environments. This includes the periods where vulnerabilities spike.
•How FOCI is interpreted across the U.S. government, where thresholds differ between agencies (DoD, DOE, NIH, NSF, etc.), and how those interpretations continue to evolve.
•What actually draws attention in practice, funding structures, partnerships, personnel, data access, and commercial behavior, often years before companies realize they are being evaluated.
•Practical mitigation options teams can consider if and when FOCI-related issues arise.

Event Details:
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2026
Location: APEX Accelerator Offices
Address: 10306 Eaton Place, WillowWood plaza, Fairfax, VA
Time: 11:30AM-2:00PM
Register today: https://bit.ly/3S54QQd

Please join us!

Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) happens when a foreign entity has the power to direct or influence the management or operations of a company. This Lunch and Learn will focus on how to mitigate risk and due diligence in government contracting. SPONSOR: Virginia Innovation Partnership

05/22/2026

Empowering week in Southwest Virginia with Team Commerce & Trade and VIPC!

From the Governor Abigail Spanberger's Economic Development Regional Input Session in Abingdon to the SWVA Economic Forum at The University of Virginia's College at Wise, we joined community leaders and economic development partners to listen and discuss opportunities for future growth and expanded collaboration.

Southwest Virginia showcases the strengths that fuel all entrepreneurs and innovators — hard work, resiliency, ingenuity — to name just a few.

Much appreciation for the wonderful hospitality of SWVA, the leadership and engagement of Secretary Carrie Chenery and Deputy Kristen Dahlman and collaboration across Commerce and Trade teams: Eric Lin, Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, Rita McClenney, Virginia is for Lovers, Jason El Koubi, Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Dr. Tamarah Holmes, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, Mike Skiffington, Department of Energy and Joe Benevento Virginia IPC.

05/20/2026

VIPC is hosting a full‑day, Department of Defense–focused SBIR/STTR proposal workshop designed to help innovators build competitive, compliant submissions for upcoming DOD opportunities.

This workshop will cover:

• SBIR/STTR program basics and the latest on the DOD landscape
• Differences across DOD components
• How to identify the right topic
• Why connecting with Technical Points of Contact early matters
• Using the DOD SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal
• Writing to meet reviewer expectations
• Common pitfalls—and how to avoid them

Event Details:
Date: Thursday, May 21, 2026
Location: Activation Capital/VA Bio+Tech Park
Address: 800 E. Leigh St., Richmond, VA 23219
Time: 8:30 AM–4 PM
Register today: https://bit.ly/4nZNkch

Please join us!

05/18/2026

Wonderful to host and gather together this evening with University Senior Research Officers and VPR’s from all across Virginia - Christopher Newport University, George Mason University, James Madison University, Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, University of Virginia- to break bread, expand relationships, and foster collaboration.

VIPC is a proud partner and committed to both growing and accelerating university research, innovation, and commercialization in Virginia.

Thank you, Dr. Nicole Guajardo, Dr. Andre Marshall, Dr. Anthony Tongen, Dr. Aixi Zhou, Dr. Kenneth Fridley, Dr. Jeanne Mekolichick, Dr. Srirama Rao, Dr. M. Omar Faison, Dr. Daniel Sui, Dr. Alyson Wilson, Dr. Lori McMahon and VIPC’s Doug Buerkle.

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05/13/2026

VIPC CEO Joe Benevento had the privilege alongside Richmond Times-Dispatch President Kelly Till to moderate an AI Innovation panel at the Big Dipper Innovation Summit featuring four distinguished Virginia leaders: Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, George Mason University President Gregory Washington, University of Virginia 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!

05/13/2026

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 Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Virginia Department of Aviation, Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, and Dominion Energy for their collaboration and for helping us represent Virginia at the VIPC pavilion.

05/12/2026

VIPC was excited to join Governor of Virginia's Economic Development Regional Input Session in the Shenandoah Valley at James Madison University 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!

05/08/2026

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 - Carilion Clinic, Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, City of Roanoke, Virginia - Government, Virginia Tech, and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Virginia Western Community College - 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!