This week hosts Tim Ryan and Zack Miller sit down with Adam Sledd and Braden Croy, Executive and Program Directors of Dominion Energy Innovation Center (DEIC), an affiliated innovation center of Activation Capital that supports early-stage advanced technology companies by providing them with collaborative space, guidance, and resources needed to accelerate their growth. DEIC supports great ideas across a wide spectrum of industry sectors in addition to its focus on building the alternative, renewable energy sector in Central Virginia. Watch this week's episode to hear about the upcoming SPARK 757 advanced energy micro-conference and pitch competition, the DEIC Accelerate program, how DEIC's supports energy entrepreneurs, and much more!

Show notes:

(0:00) Introducing Adam Sledd & Braden Croy

(4:47) How is DEIC different?

(12:47) Launching Spark 757

(20:20) Utilizing technology patents

(24:49) Technology available in the region

(27:16) Partnership with Dominion Energy

(32:10) Taking time + Energy adoption

(41:03) De-risking business ventures

(48:03) Pitching innovation to larger companies

(53:56) The growing workforce

(57:25) Connecting + Conclusion

About Adam Sledd, Braden Croy, & Dominion Energy Innovation Center:

Adam Sledd is the Executive Director at Dominion Energy Innovation Center. Adam is a business and non-profit leader with almost two decades in commercial real estate, investment management, and energy program experience. He has served on the board of the USGBC National Capital Region and as an advisor to multiple technology startups. A Richmond native, Adam earned his Bachelors degree at Pitzer College in Claremont, California and his MBA at American University in Washington, D.C.

Braden Croy is the Program Director at Dominion Energy Innovation Center. Braden is a specialist in entrepreneurship program development and entrepreneurial ecosystem management. Over the past decade, Braden has worked to build more robust entrepreneurship ecosystems at Virginia Tech, Syracuse University, and across Upstate New York. He has worked internationally, traveling to China and Indonesia to consult with large university research parks and local economic developers interested in modeling successful startup programs.

The Dominion Energy Innovation Center, located in Ashland, Virginia, is an affiliated innovation center of Activation Capital that supports early-stage advanced technology companies by providing them with the collaborative space, guidance, and resources needed to accelerate their growth. Founded in November 2009, the DEIC supports great ideas across a wide spectrum of industry sectors in addition to its focus on building the alternative, renewable energy sector in Central Virginia. Founding partners of this program include the signature sponsor, Dominion Energy, as well as Activation Capital, the Town of Ashland and Hanover County.

Learn more: https://www.dominnovation.com/team

About the hosts:

Tim Ryan is an angel investor and the Executive Director of StartWheel, an organization dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs with resources in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Tim also serves as the Director of REaKTOR, a space for technology-based startups to start and grow.

Zack Miller is a serial entrepreneur and author of Anomaly, a guide on differentiating yourself and your business from the crowd.

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Social Media:

Adam Sledd & Braden Croy

https://www.dominnovation.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dominion-energy-innovation-center

Connect with Adam: [email protected]

Connect with Braden: [email protected]

Tim Ryan

https://www.startwheel.org

Twitter (personal): @ryantnt (https://twitter.com/ryantnt)

Twitter: @StartWheel (https://twitter.com/StartWheel)

LinkedIn (personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryantnt/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startwheel-org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StartWheel

Zack Miller

https://www.zackmillersays.com

Twitter: @zackmillersays (https://twitter.com/zackmillersays)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zackmillersays

Thanks to our Sponsors:

StartWheel – https://www.startwheel.org

Companies Mentioned:

Register for Spark 757:

Something in the Water: https://somethinginthewater.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/

757 Accelerator: https://757accelerate.org/

Dominion Energy: https://www.dominionenergy.com/

Lighthouse Labs: https://www.lighthouselabsrva.com/

Virginia Tech: https://www.vt.edu/

Old Dominion University: https://www.odu.edu/

Virginia Commonwealth University: https://www.vcu.edu/

Jefferson Lab: https://www.jlab.org/

NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/

Grow Oyster Reefs: https://www.growoysterreefs.com/

VIPC: https://www.virginiaipc.org/vvp

Virginia Energy Workforce Consortium: https://virginia.getintoenergy.com/

Huntington Ingalls: https://hii.com/