ODU Innovation Center

THE CENTER FOR ENTERPRISE INNOVATION AT OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY HAS OPENED THE NEW INNOVATION CENTER IN DOWNTOWN NORFOLK THAT PROVIDES PROGRAMS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENTS TO SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURS AND EXISTING BUSINESSES BASED ON BEST-PRACTICES FOR:

Co-working: Freelancers, creatives, small teams, and mobile workers seeking a dynamic and flexible work environment with shared desks and conference rooms available on a membership or ad hoc basis

Incubation: Startup or Spinout ventures participating in a longer-term, highly structured program to develop new products, explore innovative business models, build their team, and test available markets, thus needing dedicated space for up to 3 years prior to “graduation.”

Acceleration: Companies participating in an intense, short-term, highly focused, mentor-driven program to prepare them for a rapid boost to market, and thus needing dedicated space for a defined time (typically 90-120 days)

Dubbed the ODU Innovation Center – Norfolk, the program and facility will also provide a venue for on-going provision of training courses from ODU’s new College of Continuing Education and Professional Development, along with targeted guidance and mentoring from other Center for Enterprise Innovation programs (i.e., the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center, the Procurement Assistance Center, the Women’s Business Center, the Technology Applications Center, Launch Hampton Roads, and GOV2COM).

Finally, the ODU Innovation Center – Norfolk is the first of several such centers being planned around Hampton Roads, each having affiliated working environments and programs. As each of these affiliated centers gets established, clients will have new and unprecedented opportunities to network freely with like-minded entrepreneurs in Hampton Roads.