Three Richmond-area companies — a maker of ingredient-conscious lipstick and lip balms, a company that helps connect expectant and new parents to care providers, and a firewood delivery service — were selected to participate in a Richmond accelerator program for startup companies.
The three Richmond businesses will join six others — including two from elsewhere in Virginia — as part of the 12th cohort of businesses to go through Lighthouse Labs, a program that provides mentoring, advice and financial support to promising startup businesses.
This year marks the 10th year that Lighthouse Labs has operated. Including this spring’s cohort, Lighthouse Labs has worked with 89 companies and more than 160 founders.
“Over the course of the last decade, we’ve attracted some of the most talented founders and mentors to the Richmond startup community,” said Erin Powell, executive director of Lighthouse Labs. “The support for growing our startup ecosystem here in Richmond has been growing steadily for the last few years.”
The spring 2022 cohort will meet for regularly for 12 weeks starting March 7, and will get mentoring from numerous volunteers and advisory services from Lighthouse Labs’ partners such as Global Accelerator Network, Kaleo Legal, Sandbox and Startup Virginia.
Lighthouse received more than 160 applications for the nine spots in the upcoming cohort.
Five of the nine companies are in Virginia. Two are based in Pennsylvania and two based in Texas.
Six of the nine teams are in the healthcare industry. “There is a lot of focus on healthcare,” said Powell, adding that Lighthouse Labs continues to partner with a consortium of health providers including Virginia Commonwealth University to help bring health innovations to market.
Companies participating in the program also get $20,000 of equity-free funding.
The companies in the spring 2022 cohort are:
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