- Beacon
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- Beacon #01
We’re officially live 💯
Since soft-launching Beacon at Bridging Innovation this spring, we’ve been heads down bringing the idea to life. Over the summer, we launched our site, hosted our first “Beacon Builder Night”, and even moved into a startup house 🏠.
As a quick refresher - Beacon is a free community created by founders for founders, dedicated to inspiring, building, and growing the next generation of West Virginia startups.
Below are a few ways to get involved with Beacon — with more on the way soon 🫡
The Beacon Startup House 🏡
Yep, you read that right — Beacon isn’t just online, we’ve got a real home base now. A few startups have already moved into a 4,000 sq. ft. house in South Park, shipping code and building product every day.
Think of it as WV’s startup house: a place where early-stage builders and founders can riff on ideas, push their companies forward, and work in the trenches with the best and brightest around.
The Beacon House has an open-door policy. Whether you want to post up at a desk for the day or swing by to vibe with other founders, we’d love for you to stop by and say hello!
Reply to learn more :)
Inaugural Beacon Builder Night at the Startup ouse
Upcoming Events 📆
Every issue, we’ll drop startup events happening across West Virginia and the broader Appalachian region. Here’s what’s coming up:
Entrepreneur Meetup 🤝 (Friday, August 22) - An entrepreneur meetup from 4-6 pm at 781 Chestnut Ridge Road, Morgantown, WV. The event is hosted by TechConnect WV, Right to Start, and Innova Commercialization. Open to ALL!
Beacon Builder Night 🛠️ (Thursday, September 4th) - A monthly gathering of local builders and early-stage founders that get together to build, demo, and work on their products at the Beacon Startup House, co-hosted by Vantage Ventures. (registration link)
Trailblaze 🌄 (Wednesday, October 1st) - A one-day summit for WV’s early-stage founders to connect with funders, gain first-hand knowledge, and turn big ideas into bold ventures. Co-hosted by TechConnect WV and the WV Investor Collaborative (registration link)
Have something we should add? Hit reply and let us know.
Founder Spotlight 🚀
Every issue we’ll spotlight a founder with West Virginia roots who’s building something ambitious.
First up is Eldrick Millares, co-founder & CEO of Illuminant Surgical. Eldrick grew up in Ripley, WV, and now lives in Los Angeles, where he and his co-founder, Dr. James Hu, are building their company.
Illuminant is developing the world’s first anatomical projection system that gives doctors “x-ray vision” — projecting imaging data directly onto the body without goggles or headsets. Powered by computer vision, sensors, and projectors, the tech targets the $6B precision access and visualization market spanning spine surgery, interventional radiology, and pain management. Their mission: help clinicians never miss their target, whether in a cancer biopsy, spinal fusion, or routine injection.
Backed by Y Combinator, NSF, NIH, and leading venture investors, Eldrick and James bring deep Stanford engineering roots to the table. As a proud mountaineer, Eldrick says he is “looking to bring opportunities to the state and give back where he can.” The team has worked with the Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center, completed a major preclinical study, and secured a new SBIR grant — with more big news on the way.
👉 Follow their journey on LinkedIn.
Fun fact — Eldrick and I first met at WVU Jackson’s Mill during Mountaineer Boys State in 8th grade!
In The Trenches 🛠️
Every issue, we’ll share real “in the trenches” advice that contains quick hits, hard-earned lessons, and raw truths from building something from the ground up.
Stay tuned — the first one drops next month!