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John Chambers College of
Business and Economics
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Accelerator Program

Vantage Ventures provides structured, direct, hands-on support to scalable early-stage startups in West Virginia through an accelerator program that helps startups test critical assumptions, create prototypes and products, gain early traction with customers, and prepare to pitch investors. 

Program Overview and Eligibility 

New cohorts of 5 to 10 startups will be admitted to our 13-week accelerator program twice per year in September and January. Entrepreneurs may participate in the accelerator either in-person in Morgantown or virtually from anywhere in West Virginia. The evidence-based curriculum for this program teaches entrepreneurs how to identify and test core assumptions in their business models in a scientific manner as well as the importance of developing personal initiative.  

VV accelerator

The Vantage Ventures accelerator is committed to creating a cooperative, collegial culture. We have partnered with the Brad and Alys Smith Outdoor Economic Development Collaborative to provide community programming to all accelerator program startups.  

Startups must meet the following criteria to be eligible to apply to the Vantage Ventures accelerator: 

  • At least one equity-holding founder must reside in West Virginia (or be a student at a college or university in West Virginia). 

  • Must plan to create jobs in West Virginia. 

  • Must have a business model that can scale to compete in a national or global market. 

Although not required, startups that meet the following criteria are preferred:  

  • Have a technology component or AI focus.  

  • Are least moderately differentiated from competitive products and services. 

  • Have two or more cofounders – ideally, one who can build the product and one who can sell the product. 

  • Led by hard-working underdogs with a proven ability to overcome adversity and obstacles. 

  • Led by entrepreneurs working full-time on the startup. 

Funding Opportunities 

Accelerator participants will have access to several funding opportunities. All startups accepted into the accelerator receive up to $10,000 in non-dilutive technical assistance funding thanks to a grant from the Economic Development administration. Top-performing accelerator graduates may be invited to pitch for up to $100,000 in additional pre-seed funding. WVU students can receive $14 per hour for up to 20 hours per week to work on their startups.