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.