Startups

Startup funder CIT is now the Virginia Innovation Partnerships Corporation

Along with a new name, CIT merged with four other Commonwealth funds. President Bob Stolle and Chief Investment Officer Tom Weithman break down what the rebrand means for the organization, and what sort of startups it's looking to fund.

Virginia welcomes tech. (Photo by Flickr user Jimmy Emerson, used via a Creative Commons license)
Starting this month, tech funding in Virginia has a new name — literally.

As of November, the funding arm previously known as the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) is now the Virginia Innovation Partnerships Corporation (VIPC). It will now function as the nonprofit operating agent of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority, an entity created in 2020 by the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovation Partnership Act, passed in 2019, to support innovation in the state.

Since its inception in 1985, CIT has been a hotspot for local entrepreneurship and startups in NoVa, managing funding programs including the Commonwealth Commercialization FundGAP Funds, the Virginia Founders Fund and the Regional Investment Fund. In January, CIT reported that its GAP funding had invested $32.4 million into 240 local startups since it was created in 2005.

According to VIPC, the rebrand reflects a new priority for innovation and entrepreneurship in the state. The decision follows town halls across the state, meetings with local organizations like tech councils and accelerators, as well as work sessions with businesses and colleges.

Bob Stolle, president of the VIPC, said that the rebrand follows constant updates and growth of the program in its 35 years of existence.

“There’s certainly been an evolution of programs, of people, of needs from the entrepreneurial community, the innovation community and so we have evolved with that and created new programs to meet the demands,” Stolle told Technical.ly.

The legislation and research, Stolle said, came about because stakeholders in the state realized that it would be better to consolidate many of the state’s programs under one umbrella. To create VIPC, CIT was merged with the Virginia Research Investment Fund primarily, alongside the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Logistics and the Commonwealth Cyber Security Initiative. With the merger, it also gained additional access to a significant amount of new funding, although Stolle was unable to specify how much. Going forward, it plans to create new programs.

“The idea is not just to consolidate those under one organization, but to really provide a concentration of the benefits, and a coordination of those benefits, and create something of a pipeline so that we’re working directly with the great programs that exist within some of these other organizations,” Stolle said.

Despite the rebrand, Tom Weithman, chief investment officer and vice president of VIPC’s investment division, said that VIPC can still be thought of as a science and tech-based investor. It’ll continue to invest in its main categories of software and enterprise delivery, but will also be looking for those who take a broader context into consideration, like cleantech and life sciences firms.

Primarily, Weithman said that VIPC looks to invest where its capital can make a difference, be it in the state’s ecosystem or in tech that solves a real problem.

“[We’re investing in] the same look, feel and texture of companies,” Weithman said. “We remain a Virginia investor. We look for companies that are headquartered here and have a long-term commitment to help grow the economy.”

But the rebrand, Stolle added, also presents the chance to strengthen the overall startup community in the state.

“We also are trying to increase the pipeline of startups from very early stages,” Stolle said. “We recognize we can’t just go in and provide funding… to tech-based startups, but that, in fact, we’ve got to help grow the entire ecosystem within the Commonwealth.”

With the new name and resources, Stolle said that VIPC hopes it can get its programming in front of even more founders and continue its impact. But, he added, there’s also a chance to expand on the local ecosystem of Virginia’s tech scene and continue its growth.

“We’ve got a great opportunity to be a national leader when it comes to smart communities,” Stolle said. “So through this process, we will continue to deal with entrepreneurs, with founders that have unique experience and can help us grow the opportunities that exist.”

Companies: Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

The man charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

Northern Virginia defense contractor acquires aerospace startup in $4B deal

From rejection to innovation: How I built a tool to beat AI hiring algorithms at their own game

The US needs to train more cyber talent to keep the country secure

Technically Media