By Ernie Smith & Beth Hester
Innovative thinking is alive and well in Coastal Virginia, and it’s gloriously multifaceted, injecting fresh energy and progressive ideas into everything from defense and healthcare to energy, aerospace, design, and more. To capture this diversity, we’re offering a curated index highlighting people and organizations driving progress across the region. It’s not meant to be an exhaustive directory, but rather a sampling of the ideas and initiatives shaping Coastal Virginia’s economic and technological evolution.
757 Collab
Based out of Norfolk’s Assembly co-working space, 757 Collab aims to jumpstart innovation throughout its namesake area code. The program supports startups through targeted programming, access to mentors, and a place to work—six months, rent-free. It’s backed more than 250 companies that have raised over $200 million in capital.
Aditya Chakraborty, Ph.D., MS, MSC
Could we track COVID-19 outbreaks like we track the weather? Aditya Chakraborty’s Disease Forecasting Model could help. The assistant professor at Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University’s Joint School of Public Health developed the tool to help medical officials like hospitals respond more quickly when outbreak warning signs emerge.
AGC 757 Network
Run a company that’s ripe for a merger or acquisition? This network is for you. This local offshoot of the Association of Corporate Growth connects deal-makers with “middle market” companies that still have ample room to grow. The Virginia Beach-based AGC chapter connects members with investment and networking opportunities year-round.
Drone Up
Dropping drones into a highly regulated airspace isn’t easy, but the Virginia Beach-based DroneUp has tapped into the region’s military backbone to allow retailers and healthcare providers to expand into drone delivery. With its software prowess and regulatory chops, the company aims to make the emerging category work for everyone.
Elizabeth River Trail Foundation
Supporting urban recreation along Norfolk’s waterfront, the foundation helps promote and maintain the Elizabeth River’s 10.5 miles of biking and pedestrian trails. The organization, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2026, has supported the river’s ongoing wetland restoration project—and plans on an eventual connection to Virginia Beach’s trail system.
Hampton Roads / Virginia Tech Clean Hydrogen Program
Hydrogen fuel hasn’t quite hit the mainstream, but a budding collaboration led by Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center is keeping Hampton Roads in the renewable-energy discussion. Announced in 2023, the $6.5 million test facility, located at Newport News’ Tech Center Research Park, aims to develop heavy machinery use cases.
Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium
This partnership between three bedrock Hampton Roads institutions—Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, and Sentara Health—aims to boost scientific research, local development, and healthcare innovations. The state-sponsored partnership, which dates back to 2020, also includes ODU’s Macon and Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences and its Eastern Virginia Medical School subsidiary.
Innovate Hampton Roads
One of the region’s key supporters of entrepreneurship, Innovate Hampton Roads aims to foster ongoing development in the region though its educational resources along with its ongoing events, including the Virginia offshoot of the annual Startup World Cup competition. It’s the connective tissue of a bustling local community of innovators.
Isle Maritime Trades Academy
High schoolers interested in learning about the maritime trades have a new way to set sail. The Isle Maritime Trades Academy—a just-launched collaboration between Isle of Wight County Schools, Paul D. Camp Community College, and Newport News Shipbuilding—could help foster the next generation of maritime welders and maritime electricians locally.
LifeNet Health
A global nonprofit with roots in Virginia Beach, LifeNet Health is an innovator in the life sciences, particularly in organ transplants and other regenerative medicine fields. Formed in 1982 as the Eastern Virginia Tissue Bank, its mission has expanded over time, but its focus on honoring donors has remained constant.
Lockheed Martin Center for Innovation
The hexagram-shaped building is distinctive—it’s nicknamed “The Lighthouse” for a reason—but Lockheed Martin’s Suffolk-based research facility really stands out as a defense tech hub in an aerospace-friendly location. Fast Company once described the 50,000-square-foot facility, built for war games and simulation exercises, as “Lockheed Martin’s vision of the future.”
Luminoah, Inc.
This recent Virginia Startup World Cup winner has roots in a pediatric cancer battle. While his son (successfully) fought against a rare brain tumor, founder Neal Piper saw the many weaknesses with enteral nutrition, or tube feeding, up close. The Charlottesville-based startup developed the Luminoah Flow—a portable, personalized alternative—in response.
Mantra Inspired Furniture
In a world of cookie-cutter office decor, Mantra’s classy, sustainability-minded office furniture stands out. So does its name, inspired by a set of eight mantras founder Susan Pilato received from her father. Those guiding principles have manifested themselves in an American-made, Norfolk-based furniture brand that embraces solid wood’s unique properties.
NASA Langley Flight Dynamics Research Facility
It’s always nice to get an innovative new toy. The NASA Langley Flight Dynamics Research Facility is Langley’s first new wind tunnel in more than four decades—and will eventually replace two older tunnels. The $43 million facility offers NASA a 25,000-square-foot test bed for future missions and aviation innovations.
Psionic
This Hampton-based company, which specializes in high-end navigation tools for aerospace and commercial needs, reflects the city’s longstanding background in military and space flight—and the government roots of GPS. The company’s two founders, Steve Sandford and Diego Pierrottet, each had long careers with NASA before moving into the private sector.
RISE
Recurring flooding is increasingly a fact of life in coastal communities in Hampton Roads and elsewhere, but RISE thinks it can help stem the tide. The nonprofit—which supports entrepreneurs working on solutions like early-warning systems, flood-proofing techniques, and community resilience strategies—has delivered more than $9 million in grants since 2018.
REaKTOR Technology Innovation Center
An extension of Hampton’s roots in aerospace, REaKTOR started in 2012 as a partnership between the National Institute of Aerospace, an outreach arm of NASA’s Langley Research Center, and the Peninsula Technology Incubator. The resulting accelerator program helps startups score funding, ongoing support, and access to NASA’s large patent portfolio.
The Aerospace Academy of the Eastern Shore
This STEM-oriented collaboration between Accomack County Public Schools and Northampton County Public Schools is perfect for rising high-schoolers with a budding interest in aerospace. AAES works with Old Dominion University to give students the skills essential for a successful career in aerospace engineering, including access to internships and college-level courses.
The LINC
Portsmouth’s emerging Innovation District connects both the past and future in its name, a reference to the historic Lincolnsville neighborhood, the city’s first middle-class African American community. What’s in store for the future? An economic redevelopment project that aims to revitalize the High Street corridor for businesses and residents alike.
The Mustard Seed Place
Located in a building that was once a high-end department store, The Mustard Seed Place represents the philosophy of its founder, Dr. Angela Reddix, in action: that small seeds of women’s entrepreneurship, given proper nourishment, can flourish. The community and its entrepreneurs represent a shining light in Olde Towne Portsmouth.
Tidal Flight
Would we all be better off traveling in seaplanes? That’s the case Tidal Flight is hoping to make. Founded in 2023, the Hampton startup argues that for shorter flights, coastal landings simply make more sense. The company recently partnered with Coastal Seaplanes to bring hybrid-electric seaplane service to the mid-Atlantic.
Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation
Much of Virginia’s high-tech investment has roots in VIPC’s economic development work. The nonprofit, which connects innovative university-level work and high-potential startups with investors, aims to develop entrepreneurship throughout Virginia. VIPC’s investment arms have supported more than 300 startups, attracting more than $2 billion in private capital to the state.
Virginia Peninsula Community College Workforce Training Center
VPCC’s career training programs, targeted both at individuals and organizations, could prove essential for keeping up with a shifting economy. The community college offers both in-person programs at four locations throughout the peninsula—some in high-tech areas like cybersecurity and logistics, for example—along with numerous online offerings in partnership with ed2go.
William & Mary’s Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences
One of the most prominent centers for coastal and marine research in the country, the program has granted more than 1,000 graduate degrees throughout its 75-year history, with graduates going on to support federal agencies like NOAA and USGS. In recent years, the school has expanded into undergraduate programs.
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