Photo by Lisa DeNeffe .
“ WVU becomes a school of opportunity to train the next generation of students — the next generation of startups ,” Chamber says . “ This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy . It is the university reinventing itself ; it is the startup ecosystem reinventing itself . It is the government at the state and local level sharing a common vision for what our state could be and will be in execution .”
Educational changes throughout the system , not just at the higher education level , can give young West Virginians the tools they need to jump into this new economics vertical .
“ Our goal is to infuse the Silicon Valley techniques of agility and adaptability — known as design thinking — into our K-12 and post-secondary education system , growing the next generation of dreamers and doers who will then build the next great companies in West Virginia without the need to leave our state ,” Smith says .
Although the state has to power through some growing pains to accommodate this new breed of entrepreneurs , Biller says we have some built-in qualities as West Virginians that are easing the transition .
“ Our ability to convene the academic , private and public leadership together and use this collective force to support companies that are building breakthrough technologies is unrivaled anywhere in the country ,” Biller says . “ Our greatest strength is that we are pragmatists . We have applied this force to punch above our weight and attract globally significant startups to establish operations in West Virginia .”
The Startup Golden Era
Three diverse Morgantown startups — a company that repurposes lithium-ion batteries , a finance app and an environmental emissions tracking software company — all used West Virginia University ’ s ( WVU ) Vantage Ventures support to bring their high-tech ideas to market .
Auggie Chico , founder and CEO of Parthian Battery Solutions , won the West Virginia Business Plan Competition with his plan to reuse batteries that power electric cars when he was finishing his degree in finance in 2020 at WVU .
“ Upon retirement of the vehicle , the batteries still have more than 85 % of their life left ,” he says .
Pitching the high-power batteries into a landfill causes high stakes environmental and safety concerns . Chico says that once the volatile batteries combust , they can burn for weeks .
Parthian Battery provides recertification services for lithium-ion batteries and manufactures stationary energy storage systems for homes and businesses that use solar panels . Parthian has developed pilot installations of its systems and partnered with Nissan North America .
When he began , Chico counted on the experts at Vantage Ventures for help with investor introductions and networking . Chico says Vantage introduced him to a community of entrepreneurial individuals in the state of West Virginia . Today , Chico is quickly moving toward his goal of having Parthian be the first line of retirement for lithium-ion batteries , and he has made it a point to do so in the Mountain State .
“ West Virginia is changing into a state of opportunity . If you have some sort of vision or dream of starting something , you can do it right here ,” he says . “ Whether you are aware of it or not , opportunity is here . If you stick your toes in the water , it won ’ t be long before you start running into some of those opportunities .”
West Virginia ’ s participation in the FinTech Sandbox — a program cofounded by Vantage Ventures Executive Director Sara Biller that allows fintech technology startups to operate for 24 months without paying licensure fees — brought Jonathon Powers and his company , Nickel Finance , to the Mountain State . Founded in 2020 , Nickel Finance now has dual headquarters in Pittsburgh and Morgantown .
“ Financial technology startups have huge capital expenses just getting off the ground from licenses and consumer protections ,” says Powers , Nickel Finance ’ s co-founder , COO and chief of strategic partnerships .
Nickel Finance ’ s goal is to make money management and movement easier for individuals and businesses with its mobile app , Nickel . The app creates a community of members who can move money with a responsiveness that turns every transaction into action .
“ They say your network is your net worth ,” Powers says . “ Sarah Biller , Ellie Nesser and Tanya Smigocki have grown our network exponentially over the past year , introducing us to influential and affluent individuals in the state who can help propel us forward .”
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