Venture Central wins $300,000 grant from GO Virginia

A proposal to create a regional strategy to promote entrepreneurship in the region has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. 

The Community Investment Collaborative and Venture Central will use the “Growing Opportunity” funding for the Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative.

“This project will engage a broad range of stakeholders in the region, inventory available resources and small business funding sources, and develop actionable strategies to increase the rate of new business formation and improve survival rates for early-stage businesses in urban and rural areas,” reads the notice of awards sent out this morning. 

The geographic scope for the initiative covers what’s known as Region 9, which covers Albemarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson and Orange, the city of Charlottesville and the town of Culpeper.

For more on Region 9, take a look at their annual report from fiscal year 2022. Anticipate a story on the next annual report when it’s ready in the near future. 

Region 8 covers communities to the west. The Shenandoah Community Capital Fund was awarded $395,067 for a project called the Capacitor Incubator. 

“These services will include validation stage development services, a physical working location hub and connecting entrepreneurs to the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem resources, including capital,” reads the press release announcing the awards. 

Venture Central is a nonprofit formed in 2021 to encourage and promote people who want to turn an idea into a business. One of their programs is an Angel Academy that starts this October to expand awareness of the availability of capital funding. 

The Community Investment Collaborative is a nonprofit that seeks to connect would-be entrepreneurs with skills and resources. Their website states they’ve helped create 153 businesses and created 317 full-time jobs. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the June 30, 2023 edition of the program. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.