Vantage Ventures Launches to Fuel New West Virginia Economy
In a major step towards helping create a new Mountain State economy driven by entrepreneurship and innovation, West Virginia University’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics unveiled Vantage Ventures Oct. 4 on WVU’s campus in the company of 250 supporters. During the launch, Vice President of Startup WV Javier Reyes explained this is one way to implement the WV Forward's blueprint.
Guided by the energy and vision of Executive Director Sarah Biller, one of the founding executives of FinTech Sandbox, Vantage Ventures is a concentrated effort to launch high impact, scalable businesses that tackle complex challenges. It will lead the way in moving West Virginia Forward into a start-up state. Its mission is to support teams building businesses deploying intellectual property across WVU’s expansive research platforms and leveraging its untapped pools of science, technology, engineering and business talent.
Its initial focus will be on four main market sectors: health, security, energy and sensory. Resident companies are supported by Vantage Ventures through its strong pipeline of mentors, executives, and funding networks, access to which has previously lacked in West Virginia.
Its initial focus will be on four main market sectors: health, security, energy and sensory. Resident companies are supported by Vantage Ventures through its strong pipeline of mentors, executives, and funding networks, access to which has previously lacked in West Virginia.
Vantage Ventures grew from a call-to-action from John Chambers, former CEO of Cisco Systems and current Founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, to fuel job creation and innovation in West Virginia to move to a digital-first future.