StartVirginia: April 2023 Heard around Virginia

Richmond-based Absurd Snacks is ready to enter major retailers after a reformulation and taking on some new packaging. Founders  Grace Mittl and Eli Bank worked with a New York agency and redesigned the packaging. Absurd Snacks has been available at independent grocery stores, but Mittl and Bank are eyeing larger retailers and wanted to make sure the product was ready for a bigger stage. Bank said the company should soon be able to announce it is entering a major grocery retailer and that it will have to raise more capital. Absurd Snacks was spun out of a program at the University of Richmond designed to help students start food and beverage companies. (Richmond Inno)

Bonumose, a food ingredient and enzyme innovation company, has opened a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing and research and development facility in Charlottesville dedicated to tagatose production. Tagatose is a sweet, plant-based material that is 90% as sweet as sugar but with 62% fewer calories. It is suitable for those with diabetes and has been certified non-GMO, ketogenic and kosher. Equity investments co-led by sweetener company ASR Group and chocolate maker The Hershey Co. supported the facility, as did a loan from X-Caliber Rural Capital. Bonumose has brought more than 30 jobs to Charlottesville and plans to expand production. (News release)

To mark its 140th anniversary, the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance in February launched the 140 Fund, a revolving loan fund designed to provide financing to micro, startup, small and existing businesses in the region. The fund will be seeded by a campaign to raise money from the community with a goal of reaching $140,000 in 2023. Once seeded, the fund will have a formal application process and will be managed by the alliance. (News release)

Norfolk-based digital magazine startup Magazine Jukebox Inc. will invest $1 million to expand, moving from a coworking space into an office, creating 20 jobs. Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced the expansion Feb. 28. Founded in 2020, Magazine Jukebox is a subscription service that provides digital magazines for commercial spaces with waiting rooms, like salons, car dealerships and medical centers. The company distributes QR codes and displays for guests to access digital magazines for up to 36 hours. (VirginiaBusiness.com) 

Alexandria-based database startup pgEdge Inc. emerged from stealth mode March 7 after announcing a $9 million seed financing round led by Arlington venture firms Sands Capital Ventures and Grotech Ventures. Founded in 2022 by serial entrepreneur and CEO Phillip Merrick and Denis Lussier, the company’s chief technology officer, pgEdge created a platform that copies databases using open-source technology, PostgreSQL, so websites can run faster, even in locations that sit a great distance from servers. The company plans to use the seed funding to grow the company’s engineering, sales and customer success teams to hone its pgEdge Cloud database-as-a-service offering, then push it further into the marketplace. (DC Inno)

Roanoke’s Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program, or RAMP, has named five startups for its spring 2023 cohort. The companies include Salem-based Cairina Inc., MOVA Technologies and Trova Commercial Vehicles Inc., both of Pulaski, and Code One Training Solutions and SchedulerHUB, both of Roanoke. The community is invited to meet the cohort at the Shenandoah Club in Roanoke April 13 and a “demo day” is tentatively set for June 8. Participants receive $20,000 in non-equity funding, mentoring, free office space in Roanoke’s Gill Building and more. RAMP has accelerated 38 companies that employ more than 600 people since it was founded in 2017. For more information, visit ramprb.com. (News release)