Health accelerator program coming to Richmond

Richmond-based seed-stage accelerator Lighthouse Labs is partnering with the Health Innovation Consortium (HIC) to start a health-focused startup accelerator program in Virginia, the groups announced Thursday. Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU Health and Richmond-based nonprofit Activation Capital created HIC, which launched in January 2019 to bring health care ideas to the market. 

“Health systems, particularly academic health systems like VCU, are looking for innovative solutions involving every aspect of health care — its delivery to consumers, its technology and its business models,” Peter Buckley, interim VCU Health System CEO and VCU Health Sciences interim senior vice president, said in a statement. “The Health Innovation Consortium was designed to facilitate, support and scale health innovation. By partnering with Lighthouse Labs … we have the opportunity to attract and engage with the most promising new technologies in the country that can improve the health of our community.”

The program is scheduled to run from Aug. 24 to Nov. 13. Selected companies will participate in a three-month-long health-focused accelerator program to brainstorm and pitch ideas for developing digital health technology and medical devices. Participating companies will receive $20,000 in venture funding and access to advisory services through Global Accelerator Network (GAN), Kaleo Legal and Startup Virginia. 

Applications for spots in the accelerator program open Friday and will close on June 14. Finalists will be notified by June 29, and interviews will take place in July before the program begins Aug. 24.

“Innovation is needed now more than ever,” Erin Powell, executive director of Lighthouse Labs, said in a statement. “The fall cohort by Health Innovation Consortium and Lighthouse Labs will provide traction for the most promising, high-potential startups to begin making an immediate impact in health-related industries.”

Founded in 2012, Lighthouse Labs has invested $20,000 in each of the 48 startup companies it has funded. 

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