Inside UVA
For UVA faculty & staff.
How to route a founder, where the funding is, who to call, and what every school has agreed to work toward.
One intake
A founder should describe their idea once. Send them to the right door and everything behind it is shared.
Research into startups, licenses and partnerships.
722 Preston Ave, alongside UVA LVG
Funding finder
| Program | Who it’s for | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| VentureForward | Students, faculty & staff (Engineering) | Up to $1,000 new · $2,500 returning |
| Batten i.Lab | Students, alumni, faculty & staff | $5,000–$10,000 per venture |
| Batten Grants & Fellows | Students & recent graduates | $1.5M+ granted since 2020 |
| Galant Challenge | UVA student, alumni, faculty & staff ventures | Up to $6M from investors (2026) |
| Lab-to-Launch | Faculty founders | $50,000 commercialization funding |
| Manning SPARK Tank | Faculty | $50,000 per winner |
| Coulter Center | Faculty — devices & diagnostics | ~$900K a year across 6–8 projects |
| LaunchPad for Diabetes | Faculty — School of Medicine | $1.1M a year |
| Ivy Biomedical Innovation Fund | Faculty with a clinical collaborator | ~$90–100K awards |
| Cancer Center Accelerating Innovation Fund | Faculty | ~$1M a year |
| iTHRIV pilot awards | Faculty — translational research | Up to $50K |
| LVG Seed Fund II | Ventures built on UVA IP | $10M evergreen fund |
| VIPC / Virginia Venture Partners | Virginia startups | $50K launch grants · pre-seed to $250K |
Who to call
Program leads who can route a founder today.
Brian Breslin
Director, The Foundry · Director, Student Entrepreneurship
The Foundry
David Chen
Managing Director, Coulter Center for Translational Research · Assistant Dean for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Partnerships, UVA Engineering
Engineering
Abby Fifer Mandell
Director, Galant Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship · Senior Lecturer of Commerce
Galant CenterSchool by school
The Schools layerWhere each school’s entrepreneurship on-ramp stands today. Every school is being asked to name one entrepreneurship lead.
| School | What’s there |
|---|---|
| College & Graduate School of Arts & Sciences | most students · no unit |
| School of Engineering & Applied Science | Coulter · VentureForward |
| School of Medicine | 46% of all ventures |
| School of Data Science | industry partners pgm |
| Darden School of Business · Batten Institute | Batten Institute |
| McIntire School of Commerce · Galant Center | Galant Center |
| Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy | Social E-ship Minor |
| School of Law | E-ship Clinic · IP Center |
| School of Nursing | no named program |
| School of Architecture | Design minor |
| School of Education & Human Development | minor electives |
| School of Continuing and Professional Studies | 6 sites statewide |
| UVA Wise and UVA|NOVA | UVA beyond Grounds |
Six shared commitments
None require new money. Each needs a name next to it.
Name your school’s entrepreneurship lead
One person per school with the authority to say yes, and a standing seat at the table.
Route every venture through one intake
A founder should describe their idea once: the Foundry for students, Enterprise Studio for faculty, UVA LVG for anything with IP.
Agree on shared metrics
Ventures formed, capital raised, jobs created and cross-school participation — reported the same way by every school.
Open your courses across Grounds
The Entrepreneurship Minor already spans six schools. Every relevant course belongs on its elective list.
Build the Manning pipeline now
The building opens in 2027. The ventures that fill it have to be started in 2026.
Show up at the Commonwealth table
Lab-to-Launch, VIPC and GO Virginia already fund this work. Virginia is asking UVA to lead it.