Noelle James

Director, VentureSouth Virginia at VentureSouth

Managing Director
2018 - Current
Manage operation of Startup Virginia's nonprofit, high-growth business incubator and community-facing programs; responsible for achieving Startup Virginia's primary goal of helping startup founders grow faster and smarter than they would on their own through strategic resourcing and support.

Director, VentureSouth Virginia
2021
Co-manage the Venture South Virginia accredited investor group. VentureSouth operates angel investment networks and funds that provide capital and expertise to early-stage ventures in the Southeast. The network is comprised of 300+ investors with angel groups in sixteen markets and three co-investment funds. Since 2008, VentureSouth has invested $50 million in over 75 companies. They repeatedly have been named a Top 10 angel group in the U.S. with an impressive track record and proven returns for investors. Startup Virginia is proud to manage the VentureSouth Virginia angel group. Through this partnership, the organizations bring together Virginia’s investor network and mentoring talent with VentureSouth's proven angel investment group model to fund startups and early-stage companies in Virginia and across the Southeast.

Counsel
2008 - 2018
Attorney in the firm’s Business Law, Intellectual Property and Municipal Governance and Public Finance practice groups, worked with a broad range of for-profit and non-profit organizations, from startup ventures to public companies, on a wide variety of matters, with an emphasis on intellectual property and technology law, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. From 2013-2017, Noelle was selected as a “Rising Star” for Business/Corporate work by Virginia Super Lawyers (Thompson Reuters).

Operations & Instructor Mentor
2013 - 2016
Taught classes and supported operations, growth, marketing and instructor development at Washington, DC studios.