According to Brookings Institution research, there are approximately 700 business incubators or accelerators in the United States. Accelerators and incubators offer entrepreneurs good opportunities early on. Company founders get help to quickly grow their business and they often better their chances of attracting a top venture capital firm to invest in their startup at a later point.

Today’s episode focuses on a company called Ceres Nanosciences which evolved out of George Mason University campus in Manassas, Virginia. In 2014, they were the first company to sign-on with the newly-created Prince William Science Accelerator. Four year later they have grown dramatically and they are the first company to graduate from the facility.

We interview two key players in this episode. Ross Dunlap is a founding member and the CEO of Ceres Nanosciences. Jeff Kaczmarek is the Executive Director of the Prince William County Department of Economic Development which manages the Accelerator.