IDEA Hub

West Virginia University seniors Samuel Chico and Kyle Seese have an idea for low-cost, eco-friendly energy storage systems that repurpose retired EV battery modules from auto manufacturers. With a $10,000 boost from the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, Chico and Seese, the winners of the first virtual West Virginia Business Plan Competition, may establish themselves and their business, Parthian Battery Solutions, as the premier cost leader for residential and commercial energy storage systems.

Seed WV is an exciting new program being developed at West Virginia University to spur entrepreneurial growth throughout the great state of West Virginia.

In an effort to support growing campus resources in the innovation space, WVU is aligning resources to allow for a more streamlined approach to serving students, faculty, staff and aspiring entrepreneurs across the state and beyond.

Eighteen state colleges and universities will be represented in the 2019-2020 West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition semifinals, with a total of 31 teams moving onto the next stage of the competition.

The West Virginia University IDEA Hub and LaunchLab Network have been recognized on the global stage for the second year in a row.

The West Virginia University IDEA Hub has received national recognition for its comprehensive, University-wide efforts in entrepreneurship and innovation, an award for which it had been named a finalist in previous years.

At West Virginia University, students, faculty and staff are charged with pursuing world-changing discoveries, innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges, academic engagement and excellence, and they are responding to the call. WVU’s second annual Demo Day (April 25) is an example in living color of the University-wide commitment to cultivating a robust and dynamic culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and design.

West Virginia University School of Medicine alumni and LaunchLab Network clients will use $25,000 in startup funding from the AlphaLab Gear accelerator program for early-stage startups to help drive down maintenance costs and increase productivity in laboratories.

This year’s winning business ideas in the West Virginia Collegiate and High School Business Plan Competitions are a sign of the times: STEM learning, food and gaming. Three collegiate and two high school teams are a step closer to their entrepreneurial dreams, as entries from West Virginia University, Marshall University, Morgantown High School and Buckhannon-Upshur High School captured the grand prizes in the competitions April 12.

Collegiate entrepreneurs have lived and learned through an academic year full of new and valuable experiences in the 13th annual West Virginia Statewide Collegiate Business Plan Competition. The competition’s concluding event will be held April 12, a day full of opportunities ranging from making final presentations that could result in one of three grand prizes worth $10,000 to words of encouragement about their potential in the global business landscape.