Iconic Air, a startup up out of WVU’s Vantage Ventures, was founded in 2018, well before Vertx Partners. Frisbee introduced the environmental software company—which helps track, analyze and reduce an organization’s emissions footprint—to Ohio’s Parallax Advanced Research, and the duo secured its first of three rounds of Small Business Innovation Research funding.
“The Iconic Air founders never considered working with the federal government,” Frisbee says. “However, they have continued to grow and be successful in the Air Force, which is a great example of the benefits of working with those startups and looking at how those technologies can make a bigger impact than first estimated.”
Frisbee says the DOD can dig into the state’s coal supply for much-needed materials in advanced carbon manufacturing. In fact, AmeriCarbon, a small business in Morgantown and a Vertx partner, is doing just that with coal byproducts.