{"id":29068,"date":"2026-02-02T13:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/?p=29068"},"modified":"2026-02-02T13:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:09:00","slug":"quality-insights-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/quality-insights-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Quality Insights gifts $1.2 million toward Marshall University\u2019s iCenter"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Marshall University Foundation has announced Quality Insights, a Charleston-based nonprofit, has gifted $1.2 million toward Marshall University\u2019s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter).<\/p>\n

The funding enables the continuation and expansion of gBETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter. Run by gener8tor, a national startup accelerator, gBETA is a seven-week, no-cost, no-equity program for early-stage startups with roots in West Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sincerely grateful to Quality Insights for this gift,\u201d said Brad D. Smith, president of Marshall University. \u201cWith this support, the iCenter can deepen its impact as a catalyst for entrepreneurship and economic development, helping founders transform ideas into scalable businesses and ensuring Marshall plays a leading role in shaping the region\u2019s economic future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funding will allow for a full-time, Huntington-based gener8tor program manager, as well as operation of two gBETA cohorts per year for three years. Lastly, the funding will support the addition of one gALPHA cohort per year, focused on ideation and early-stage testing in startups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited to continue this impactful relationship with Marshall University\u2019s iCenter to drive support to more early-stage founders in West Virginia,\u201d said Vanessa Huerta, gBETA vice president and partner at gener8tor. \u201cWe recognize the demand in the region for startup support is strong and believe gBETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter is the perfect resource for the ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

The iCenter launched its gBETA accelerator in June 2025 with five startups from across West Virginia and represented industries in agriculture, digital infrastructure, medical technology, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply grateful to Quality Insights for their partnership and belief in this work,\u201d said Tricia Ball, executive director of the iCenter. \u201cThis support ensures we can continue delivering a world-class accelerator experience right here at Marshall, and one that is already changing what\u2019s possible for our startup community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quality Insights participated in a design thinking workshop through the iCenter in 2025. This workshop led to more interactions, a deeper partnership with the iCenter as a gBETA mentor, and ultimately led to the creation of Quality Insights\u2019 Thinkspace accelerator, which supports entrepreneurs in rural health care.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 50 years, Quality Insights has been committed to improving rural health, and innovation is essential to that mission,\u201d said Sven Berg, CEO of Quality Insights. \u201cThis $1.2 million investment in gBETA@Marshall Powered by Quality Insights supports West Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and aligns with the state’s vision to become a national leader in rural health innovation. Through partnerships like this and our Thinkspace accelerator, we’re helping entrepreneurs develop breakthrough health care solutions that will transform care delivery in West Virginia and rural communities nationwide.”<\/p>\n

This gift enables the iCenter to advance key initiatives that elevate entrepreneurship as a defining area of distinction at Marshall University.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thankful for our partnership with Quality Insights,\u201d said Nico Karagosian, president and CEO of the Marshall University Foundation. \u201cBy investing in entrepreneurship, this gift supports a key pillar of Marshall\u2019s advancement efforts, enabling the iCenter to drive innovation, business creation and long-term economic growth for the communities we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about the iCenter by visiting www.marshall.edu\/icenter\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Marshall University Foundation has announced Quality Insights, a Charleston-based nonprofit, has gifted $1.2 million toward Marshall University\u2019s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter). The funding enables the continuation and expansion of gBETA at Marshall\u2019s iCenter. Run by gener8tor, a national startup accelerator, gBETA is a seven-week, no-cost, no-equity program for early-stage startups with roots […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":945,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,86,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-icenter","category-marshall-university-foundation","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29068"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29075,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29068\/revisions\/29075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}