Fueling Virginia’s Innovative Ecosystem
The Speaker:
Joe Benevento serves as president and CEO of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), whose mission is to grow Virginia’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems through public-private partnerships that catalyze innovation, talent, and capital.
A graduate of Cornell University and Harvard Business School, Benevento brings over 20 years of experience spanning strategic transformation, investment management, and economic development across both the private and public sectors.
He began his career at Goldman Sachs and THL Partners and has previously served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he helped advance a comprehensive statewide economic growth strategy, culminating in Virginia’s No. 1 national ranking in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business.
Benevento collaborates closely with community builders, industry partners, university leaders, and government stakeholders across the Commonwealth. He serves on the Boards and Advisory Councils of multiple regional organizations, including Northern Virginia Technology Council, Roanoke Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, and Alliance for Building Better Medicine.
Benevento has been recognized as one of Virginia’s Top 500 Leaders and a Virginia C-Suite Award honoree by Virginia Business and named a “Tech Titan” by Washingtonian.
Learn how the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation is fueling Virginia's innovation ecosystem and learn what's next for Virginia's innovation economy at a free webinar on Wednesday, September 2 at noon.
Join RVA757 Connects for our next Virtual Innovation Spotlight featuring the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), the Commonwealth's economic development nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening Virginia's innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
VIPC works across the innovation lifecycle — from fostering entrepreneurship and helping promising technologies move from research to commercialization, to investing in high-potential startups and connecting entrepreneurs with capital, partners, and resources. Its work spans the state, supporting startup ecosystems, commercialization efforts, early-stage investment, and strategic initiatives designed to help Virginia build, attract, and grow technology-based businesses.
During this webinar, Joe Benevento, VIPC's president and CEO, will talk about how the organization is helping position Virginia as a national innovation leader, the challenges facing entrepreneurs and emerging companies, and the opportunities ahead.
He also will discuss some of VIPC's programs and initiatives, such as Lab-to-Launch, a statewide university commercialization initiative created in partnership with all six of Virginia's major research universities to accelerate university research commercialization and tech transfer into the marketplace.
Benevento also will discuss how Virginia can turn innovation into impact — and why partnerships among startups, universities, investors, corporations, and communities are essential to making that happen.