As Executive Director of CBIC and Founding Executive Director of the Charlottesville Angel Network (CAN), I'm often asked:
"Where do the local tech and entrepreneurial people meet up (and where can I find a job, employee, mentor, investor, co-founder, consultant)?"
"How can I stay informed about local tech and startup happenings?"
"What resources are in the region for an entrepreneur starting up a tech or innovation-based venture?"
CBIC publishes a weekly opt-in e-newsletter, which provides answers and insights into these very questions.
In addition, CBIC maintains the below inventory of active groups, meet-ups, funding sources, online forums, jobs boards, makerspaces, accelerators, and more that collectively stitch together and inform our tech, entrepreneurial and innovation-based start-up ecosystem.
Meetups
- beCamp annual unconference @ http://becamp.org/
- beCraft (Cville Professional Software Developers) Meetup @ http://becville.com/
- CBIC TechOnTaps @ http://cvilleinnovation.org/techontap | Newsplex Story Featuring CBIC's TechOnTap
- CBIC Tech Night Takeovers (TNT) @ http://cvilleinnovation.org/tnt
- Central Virginia Makers Meetup @ http://www.meetup.com/tinkersmiths/
- Charlottesville Entrepreneurs and Espresso (CE2) @ https://ce2.squarespace.com/
- The Charlottesville Mobile App Designers & Developers Meetup @ http://www.meetup.com/cho-mobile/
- Cville Data Science Meetup @ http://www.cvilledatascience.org/
- Cville Women in Tech @ https://www.smore.com/pqexp-women-in-tech
- DevOps @ http://www.meetup.com/DevOpsCV/
- First Wednesdays @ http://www.meetup.com/First-Wednesdays-Charlottesville-Technologists/
- Girl Develop IT @ https://www.girldevelopit.com/chapters/central-virginia
- NEON Guild @ http://www.neonguild.org/
- PyCHO Meetup @ http://pycho.us
Startup Funding Sources
- Charlottesville Angel Network (CAN) @ http://www.cvilleangelnetwork.net/
- Cavalier Angel Network (UVA Alumni investing in UVA Alumni) @ https://www.cavangels.com/
- Center for Innovative Technologies (CIT) Gap Funds @ http://www.cit.org/service-lines/cit-gap-funds/
- CIT Funding Programs News @ http://www.cit.org/resource-center/federal-funding-newsletter/
- CIT Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) @ http://www.cit.org/initiatives/crcf/
- Community Investment Collaborative Microloans: http://www.cicville.org/microloans/cic-loans
- iLab at UVA Startup Grant (available to selected iLab ventures): @ https://www.ilabatuva.org/startup-grant/
- UVA Seed Fund (invests in companies founded to commercialize UVA intellectual property; companies founded by current faculty, staff, and students at UVA, and iLab companies): http://lvg.virginia.edu/innovators/uva-seed-fund
Incubators, Accelerators, Co-working and Entrepreneurial Startup Spaces
Cville Weekly: Can growing numbers of local open work areas fuel tech innovation? (Feb 2018)
CVille Tomorrow: Local Startups Need More Common Space Connection
- Catalyst @ https://www.434.co, a long-format accelerator, providing early-stage startups in central Virginia with nine months of program support, including: $20k in grant funding, dedicated workspace, experienced founders-in-residence, monthly programming, dedicated staff, a large network of industry experts, and access to nearly $50k in additional resources.
- Charlottesville Technology Incubator (CTI) @ http://cvilletechincubator.org/
- Charlottesville Open Bio Labs @ http://openbiolabs.org/
- Center of Developing Entrepreneurs (CODE) coming to downtown Charlottesville
- Common House: a social club with co-working and meeting space @ https://www.commonhouse.com
- Machine @ http://cvillemachine.com | Recently featured in Cville Tomorrow
- Studio IX (co-working space) @ http://www.studioix.co/
- i.Lab at UVA @ http://www.ilabatuva.org/
- UVA Research Parks @ http://www.uvafoundation.com/research-parks/research-parks-available-space/
- UVA Cobb Hall Labs contact Steven S. Wasserman @ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 434-243-7088
- UVA HackCville @ http://www.hackcville.com/
- UVA The Lighthouse and Works in Progress @ http://wip.space/ | Recently featured in Cville Tomorrow
- Vault Virginia: collaborative office space including conference rooms @ http://www.vaultvirginia.com
Entrepreneurial Training | Workshops | Bootcamps
- CBIC Tech Night Takeovers @ http://cvilleinnovation.org/events?ohanah_category_id=10
- Community Investment Collaborative http://www.cicville.org/
- CvilleBioHub @https://cvillebiohub.org/events/
- Girl Develop It Central VA @ http://www.meetup.com/Girl-Develop-It-CentralVA/#
- Rails School @ http://www.railsschool.org/
- Piedmont Virginia Community College http://www.pvcc.edu/programs/category
- ICAP Lean Startup Introductory Course – Charlottesville
A FREE program that supports Virginia businesses, entrepreneurs and others who want to commercialize innovations by teaching startup teams how to identify their initial customers and develop business models that investors will fund. ICAP begins with an intensive, 3-week program to help uncover each team’s winning formula and develop a road map to early success. ICAP trainers and SBDC counselors are then available to continue working with teams to attain key milestones along that path. For more information or to apply.
News Sources, Online Forums, Slack Channels, Google Groups, Etc
- Cville Tech News, Events, and Happenings curated and published by CBIC. Opt in here @ http://tinyurl.com/ownjcv9
- CBIC Slack Channels @ https://cbicouncil.slack.com/open
- CVILLE Slack Channels @ https://cville.slack.com
- Cville Innovation Google Group @ https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cville-innovation
- beCamp @ https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/103105522986848734172
- beCraft @ https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/beCraft (members only)
- CharlottesvilleTech on Reddit @ https://www.reddit.com/r/CharlottesvilleTech/
- CWIT @ https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/cv-wit (members only)
- Girl Develop IT Central VA Slack Channel: gdicentralva.slack.com
- Third Wednesday Digital Meetup @ http://cvilletech.qiqochat.com/
- NEON Guild @ http://www.neonguild.org/ (members only)
- tech-diversity @ https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/tech-diversity (members only)
- CBIC LinkedIn Group @ https://www.linkedin.com/groups/CBIC-Charlottesville-Business-Innovation-Council-37229/about
Events Calendars
- Cville's Collaborative Tech, Innovation, Startup, Entrepreneurial Events Calendar
- Tech Girls Events Calendar @ http://www.tech-girls.org/events.html
- U.Va. Innovation's Calendar of Regional Events @ http://innovation.virginia.edu/events
Jobs & Internships
- Embark (a community resource that connects highly skilled talent with local employers) @ https://embarkcva.com
- CBIC’s #CvilleTechJobs @ http://tinyurl.com/ofboj8h (admittedly not a jobs board, but a listing of companies we know of that offer tech positions)
- U.Va. Research Park Tenant's Jobs and Internships @ http://www.uvaresearchpark.com/jobs/
- LinkedIn Tech Jobs in Charlottesville @ https://www.linkedin.com/job/tech-jobs-charlottesville-va/
- Charlottesville Women in Tech Jobs Board @ https://www.cvillewomen.tech/jobs/
Company and Startup Lists in Charlottesville
- Cvillization Innovation Map: http://www.cvillization.com
- Charlottesville Startups Via Crunchbase
- Charlottesville Startups Via Gust
- Charlottesville Startups Via AngelList
- CIT Portfolio Companies: http://www.cit.org/service-lines/portfolio/
- i.Lab at U.Va. Current Companies
- i.Lab at U.Va. Alumni Companies
- U.Va. Spin Out Startups or Related Ventures
- CBIC Members
- Charlottesville Biotech Companies via CvilleBioHub
Why Charlottesville? #CvilleTech Acquisitions, Exits, Wins, Funding, Accolades
- Virginia Named # 1 Top State for Business by CNBC in 2019 (July 2019)
- Willowtree to Transform Woolen Mills into New HQ (August 2018)
- Charlottesville: A Startup Kind of Town (Daily Progress, July 2018)
- Social SafeGuard, a Charlottesville cybersecurity startup lands $11 million in VC funding (July 2018)
- Charlottesville Angel Network Named #2 in SE Region in 2017 Annual HALO Report (2018)
- Moonlighting: Charlottesville's First ICO (Daily Progress, June 2018)
- Charlottesville Named Best American City to Work in Tech by Smart Asset (2015 & 2016)
- Charlottesville Named No. 4 in
US as Best City for Entrepreneurs by Livability and Entrepreneur Magazine (July 2016) - Virginia Business Magazine: A new story line? (June 2016)
- Tech Scene Updates from Tracey Greene on WINA (June 2016)
- Cville Ranks #1 in Venture Capital Funding Growth (2016)
- #CvilleTechToast: A growing list of tech startup successes (ongoing)
- Why Charlottesville is a Great home For Tech Businesses (2015)
- SNL Financial (Now S&P Global) Acquired by McGraw Hill for $2.2 Billion (2015)
- FireEye's Acquisition of nPulse Technologies Valued at $70 Million (2014)
- Angels among us: How Charlottesville is becoming a hot spot for start-ups (2013)
- Silverchair Learning Systems Acquired by Vista Equity Partners (2012)
- Green Light Energy Acquired by PB for $98 Million (2006)
Do you know of other local resources, groups, meetups, training, calendars jobs boards, we should add to this list? Comment below!
