Herndon, VA, April 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) today announced their participation in the upcoming Tom Tom Summit & Festival in Charlottesville. Active in supporting the expansion of business ownership and scalable ventures in Virginia, CIT has designed sessions to empower and promote the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In 2018, CIT introduced their Virginia Founders Fund, which supports entrepreneurs traditionally underrepresented in venture capital, such as minorities, women and veterans. Additionally, the firm’s recent investments in Ario, Tympanogen, NOVI, and DroneUp highlight their continued success in accelerating innovation, imagination, and the next generation of technology and technology companies across a broad range of industries throughout the Commonwealth.

“CIT understands that it is critical to build ecosystems around companies in order to help them reach their full potential,” said Ed Albrigo, President and CEO of CIT. “We are eager to infuse the Tom Tom Festival with the same spirit by hosting and participating in events that will enable  entrepreneurs to connect with various corporations and investors. The event will be a celebration of the leaders who are shaping our cities and communities.”

At this year’s Tom Tom Summit & Festival, which runs from April 8-14, attendees will find CIT at the following events:

Mid-Atlantic Angel Summit @ Tom Tom, presented by CIT
Thursday 4/11 3:00-5:00pm
Violet Crown: Theater 2, 200 W Main St.

A convening of seed and early-stage investment professionals in the Mid-Atlantic, this event is open to accredited investors (with a conference badge) from Virginia and beyond. This two-hour event will cover regional investment trends and will end with a primer on how valuation at the earliest stages of a company’s lifecycle influence investor returns and company trajectory. This is a great opportunity to learn and network with your future co-investors. *This event is only open to accredited investors*

Speakers: Thomas Weithman (Moderator), Chief Investment Officer, CIT and Managing Director, CIT GAP Funds; Alex Euler, Investment Director, CIT GAP Funds


Accelerator Company Showcase, presented by CIT
Friday 4/12 11:00am-12:00pm
Common House: Vinegar Hall North, 206 W Market St.

This one-of-a-kind “mega demo day” features select companies from the region’s top accelerator programs.  No long pitches or PowerPoints, just a short and oh-so-sweet intro to companies developing innovative solutions to complex problems in security, life sciences, smart-city technologies and within the enterprise. 

Moderator: Marco Rubin, Senior Investment Director, CIT


Connecting Virginia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, presented by CIT
Friday 4/12 2:00-3:00pm
Common House: Vinegar Hall North 206 West Market St.

An opportunity to hear directly from members of the Administration and other senior business leaders as they discuss current and future Commonwealth programs, incentives and initiatives that foster innovation, entrepreneurship and regional collaboration. 

Speakers: Ed Albrigo, Chief Executive Officer, CIT; Robby Demeria, Deputy Secretary of Commerce & Trade for Technology, Office of the Governor


“CIT is looking forward to another exciting Tom Tom festival, with more participation from seed and early-stage investment professionals this year than ever,” said Alex Euler, Investment Director, CIT GAP Funds. “We strongly believe that establishing relationships with investors in the earliest stages of a company's lifecycle influence returns and company trajectory, and hope our presence at an event like Tom Tom will help more companies learn skills and best practices that will allow them to achieve their goals.”


About Tom Tom Summit & Festival
The Tom Tom Foundation’s signature event is a weeklong festival of ideas and culture that takes in Charlottesville, Virginia, each April in conjunction with Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. This cross discipline, multi-venue experience transforms the historic downtown and empowers the innovators, who are envisioning a brighter future. For more information, please visit: https://tomtomfest.com/.


About The Center for Innovative Technology
The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), a nonprofit corporation, has been Virginia’s primary driver of innovation and entrepreneurship since 1985. CIT accelerates the next generation of technology and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development and revenue generation services. To facilitate national innovation leadership and accelerate the rate of technology adoption, CIT creates partnerships between innovative technology start-up companies and advanced technology consumers. To learn more, please visit www.cit.org. You can also follow CIT on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.


About CIT GAP Funds
Recently named Virginia’s most active investor by CB Insights, developer of a tech market intelligence platform that analyzes millions of data points on venture capital, startups, patents, partnerships, and news mentions to predict future technology trends. CIT GAP Funds joined an impressive list of VCs, including California’s Andreessen Horowitz, New York’s Lerer Hippeau Ventures, and Washington D.C.’s New Enterprise Associates.

CIT GAP Funds makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology, clean tech and life science companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors and the Commonwealth of Virginia. CIT GAP Funds’ investments are overseen by the CIT GAP Funds Investment Advisory Board (IAB). This independent, third-party panel consists of leading regional entrepreneurs, angel and strategic investors, and venture capital firms such as New Enterprise Associates, Grotech Ventures, Valhalla Partners, Harbert Venture Partners HIG Ventures, Edison Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Intersouth Partners, SJF Ventures, Carilion Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Alpha Natural Resources. For more information, please visit www.citgapfunds.org.

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