STAFFORD, VA – August 31, 2022 – The RIoT Accelerator Program’s first Virginia cohort concluded in August with a pitch night in historic Downtown Fredericksburg. Five companies from the cohort pitched their businesses to a panel of judges.
The judges included Debi Roder, Director of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems, Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC); Vernon Green, President and CEO, GCubed Inc.; Beckey Gallamore, President/Owner, Rocky Top Embroidery & More Inc and Chairperson; King George County Economic Development Authority; Curry Roberts, President, Fredericksburg Regional Alliance; and Billy Beale, CEO, Atholwood Consulting Services and Chair, GO Virginia Region 6.
August’s event was sponsored by the Virginia Smart Community Testbed, the City of Fredericksburg, the King George Economic Development Authority, and PPB Law.
The winner of the pitch event was awarded $5,000, courtesy of the Stafford County Economic Development Authority.
Latticet, a company that seeks to prototype a material piece that provides power and transmits communication signals more efficiently at a material microscopic level, won the pitch competition.
“Four years ago we started this journey to develop entrepreneurship in the Rappahannock River region,” said John Holden, director for Stafford County’s Economic Development and Tourism. “The Stafford EDA and Go Virginia collaborated together to bring RIoT and their programs to the Stafford community. This week’s pitch night was a remarkable milestone of that progress. It was a pleasure to hear pitch presentations and for Stafford EDA to sponsor a $5,000 prize to the winner of the contest. Congratulations to Latticet.”
“We were thrilled with the outcome of our first Virginia Pitch Night— the energy and participation from the community was a great show of support for our entrepreneurs,” said Tom Snyder, Executive Director for RIoT. “Latticet was the judges’ choice, and the Stafford EDA award will be a significant support toward their prototyping milestones. We’re excited to carry the momentum into the Fall launch of the second Stafford-based RIoT Accelerator Program.”
RIoT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) economic development organization and ecosystem builder focused on capturing emerging markets, exploring new technology, and accelerating startups—creating jobs in emerging technology opportunities locally, nationally, and globally. RIoT serves as a converter for the IoT community, leads an industry consortium of over 90 corporate partners, offers free startup accelerator services, an R&D prototyping lab, and more.
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