Activation Capital / VA Bio+Tech Park

Activation Capital is an innovation ecosystem development organization that operates the 34-acre VA Bio+Tech Park in downtown Richmond, adjacent to the VCU Medical Center. Founded in 1992 and opened in 1995, the park houses approximately 70 companies, research institutes, and state/federal laboratories in nine buildings totaling roughly 1.5 million square feet. Major tenants include the Altria Center for Research & Technology ($350M facility, 450K sq ft, 600 scientists), the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), and the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services.

The park's business incubation program has graduated more than 40 client companies, including three publicly traded firms, which have collectively attracted over $400 million in equity, grant, and strategic capital. A 102,000-square-foot Innovation Center is under development featuring approximately 45,000 square feet of incubator space with shared labs, private offices, and community gathering spaces.

Activation Capital also operates programs including Early Entrepreneurship Guidance, Pre-Accelerator, Accelerator, and Executive+Founder Matchmaking (Pioneer Connect) for life sciences and healthcare startups. It received $15 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia and $52.9 million in federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge funding for an advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing cluster.