alumni are crushing it!

Alumni are crushing it! | https://www.chamberrva.com/

By Press release submission

Feb 5, 2023

Simply put, our alumni are crushing it! From successfully raising large Series A rounds and securing game-changing partners, to expanding into new markets or finding TV fame (and everything in between), they are changing the world!

Almost 100 companies have been a part of Lighthouse Labs over the past 10 years, and 2022 was a banner year for many of them. Keep reading to see some of their highlights…

AnswersNow started serving customers in Georgia, eclipsed 1000 hours of therapy delivered in a month for the first time, and won the Equity Impact Award at the rvatech/Gala.
ArchiveCore received a Commonwealth Commercialization grant.
Babylon Micro-Farms launched a new, scalable product (the Galleri Micro-Farm), were listed on Forbes 30 under 30 – Social Impact, installed their 140th farm, won the Emerging Business of the Year at the rvatech/Gala, and signed a deal to become first to install hydroponic farms on a cruise ship.
Brandefy had products named to “Best of…” lists and appeared on Richmond’s Million Dollar Startup podcast.
bloomRail received a Commonwealth Commercialization grant.
Bold Xchange received the first investment from WEPOWER’s new fund.
Bookclubs raised more than $1M and launched a nonfiction book club hub.
EDai won the Covintus Tech Tank pitch competition.
equalityMD was featured on Nasdaq news, became B-Corp certified, and found a new telehealth partner to help take their product to market this year. Founder Justin Ayars was named a Rock Health Summit Innovation Fellow.
Fringe partnered with Alight to launch the Wellbeing Marketplace platform, raised $17M in Series A funding, launched a mobile app, and was named a best workplace by Inc.
Goodfynd raised $1.8M and CEO Sofiat Abdulrazaaq was named one of the New C-Suite Game Changers in Ebony.
Grantable launched first-of-its-kind grant writing software to make grant writing up to 5x faster (and debuted the tech at the Grant Professionals Association conference) and is launching AI features in early 2023.
Humanitru raised $825K and is planning for expansion.
Interstride surpassed 150 higher education partners, launched their new Employer Portal, and started R&D for a new product for admissions.
Kinis launched a WeFunder campaign.
Kinometrix received a Commonwealth Commercialization grant.
Linebird closed a $350K pre-seed round, secured their first distributor partnership, and received a Notice of Allowance for their first patent to be granted by the US Patent & Trademark Office.
LipLoveLine was accepted into the Amazon Black Business Accelerator program, launched on thirteenlune.com, entered their first brick-and-mortar shop, and partnered with Urban Outfitters to sell online.
Llamawood expanded operations to serve RVA, Charlottesville, and the DMV; found a sweet spot with restaurants; launched their seller app (Grow); and launched a fleet management app.
Major Clarity created an energy career microcredential with partner Dominion Energy.
Mobius Materials was the Fan Favorite at Lighthouse’s last Demo Day and relocated to Richmond.
Nessle added CTO/Co-Founder Michelle Cunningham to the team, was accepted into the inaugural cohort of the AWS Impact Accelerator for Women founders, and won a Commonwealth Commercialization Fund grant.
No Limbits made a deal on Shark Tank, took part in New York Fashion Week, moved to RVA, and raised a $1.4M seed round.
Occasion Genius grew more than 420% year over year, collected a small internal round, and expanded to five European countries.
Ourobio (rebranded from Transfoam) won the top prize at the Lighthouse Labs Cohort 12 Demo Day, was chosen for The Heritage Group’s hard tech accelerator program, received a Commonwealth Commercialization Grant, and launched an equity crowdfunding campaign.
Pangea Chat was awarded a National Science Foundation SBIR grant to develop their language learning app, launched the beta version of its instant messaging platform to students and teachers, and received a Commonwealth Commercialization Fund grant to continue research and development.
Pearl closed a seed round of $4M+ and was featured in Forbes.
Spira raised $1M, produced all colors from algae, and went through a rebrand (including a new website).
Sunny Day Fund was named to the world’s Inclusive Fintech 50, and founder Sid Pailla was featured on the Inclusion Catalyst podcast and in this post telling more about the genesis of the company.
Team Excel received a Commonwealth Commercialization grant, launched a new mobile app, and was a semifinalist for the Black Ambition Prize.
Terravive received a Commonwealth Commercialization grant and was named a Top 5 Green Startup.
Tribaja held the Diversitech Summit to connect underrepresented technologists.