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Virginia Tech Innovation Campus
The Alexandria Economic Development Partnership Wednesday released a request for proposals for a qualified vendor to design, implement and manage a high-tech accelerator program to support a cohort of Alexandria-based startups high-growth sectors, including robotics, aerospace, quantum, AI, energy tech, computer services, cybersecurity, and defense.
This is the first time AEDP is earmarking support directly for these industries.
Over the course of four to six months, the accelerator program will provide specialized mentorship, milestone-based coaching, technical execution support, capital connections and structured founder engagement for up to 15 startups as well as other events to convene Alexandria’s innovation ecosystem.
AEDP seeks to create a program that builds on Alexandria’s strengths and is customized to the needs of Alexandria’s business community and to serve as a foundation for future startup programming. The selected vendor will be expected to leverage Alexandria's assets such as Virginia Tech, local coworking spaces, US Patent & Trademark Office, Northern Virginia Community College, National Science Foundation, and National Innovation Quarter.
The goal of the Alexandria Accelerator is twofold:
• to accelerate the growth of a cohort of up to 15 Alexandria startups that are poised to scale
• and (ii) to serve as a foundational program in building up the City's innovation ecosystem to inform the development of future services and programs geared at high-growth entrepreneurs.
Rather than off-the-shelf curricula, this accelerator program should be focused on specialized mentorship and technical execution for a cohort of Alexandria-based startups.
“We know these startups are here. We know they are succeeding. And we know they want and need this support to grow in Alexandria,” said Philomena Fitzgerald, who manages the AEDP Small Business and Entrepreneurship program.
“Our goal with this RFP is to find the right partner to create custom programming to help Alexandria entrepreneurs grow successfully while simultaneously improving the Alexandria start-up ecosystem.”
RFPs will be accepted through March 25, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET. Late submissions will not be accepted. Questions can be submitted to apply@alexandriaecon.org and must be received by March 11.
Visit the AEDP website to view and download the RFP.
