News

Lighthouse Labs Announces Newest Cohort

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:

Llamawood,

  • a Richmond-based on-demand firewood delivery platform;

LipLoveLine,

  • a Richmond-based ingredient-conscious lip care brand;

Nessle,

  • a Richmond-based online platform that connects new and expectant parents to perinatal experts for on-demand care;

Transfoam,

  • A Charlottesville-based biotechnology firm using engineered microorganisms to turn waste into biodegradable plastic alternatives

Kinometrix,

  • a Fort Belvoir-based developer of an artificial intelligence platform to enhance patient safety in hospitals;

On Time Trials,

  • a Round Rock, Texas, software company using machine learning to optimize clinical trial monitoring;

Hoth Intelligence,

  • a Philadelphia company that provides augmented reality solutions for medical problems;

Viora,

  • a Philadelphia company that reduces health risks due to social and behavioral determinants, and

CaseCTRL,

  • a Houston-based software developer of surgical case management systems.

Learn more here.

Recent News

05/14/2025

Civica to start Chesterfield lab construction this summer, eyes Petersburg plant expansion

Nearly three years after announcing plans to build a laboratory in Chesterfield to support its manufacturing operations in Petersburg, Civica Rx is readying plans to kick off the project’s construction. The Utah-based nonprofit drugmaker said it will break ground this summer on a 50,000-square-foot facility at 11731 Meadowville Lane, in the Meadowville Technology Park near Chester.

05/07/2025

Adial Pharmaceuticals raises $2.75M

Glen Allen biopharma company Adial Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ADIL) has raised $2.75 million from an institutional investor. The company, which specializes in therapies for addiction and related disorders, said it will use the new funding for working capital and general corporate purposes. The name of the investor was not disclosed, but Adial said a “health

05/07/2025

Adovate Granted New U.S. Patent for Therapeutic Uses of A2B Receptor Antagonists

Adovate, LLC (“Adovate” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics targeting adenosine receptors involved in major diseases, today announced that Patent Number 12,269,828 B2 was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This newly issued patent covers therapeutic uses of the Company’s lead molecule ADO-5030 and thousands of other novel molecules