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Tag: River District Association

StartVirginia: Heard Around Virginia July 2024

Auterion, a software maker for computing platforms that support drones and autonomous robotics systems, has relocated its headquarters to Arlington County from Moorpark, California, as it seeks to be closer to its defense-related customers. The company already had some of its 112 employees based in the Washington, D.C., metro area for several years, but Auterion’s new HQ at 3100 Clarendon Blvd. now serves as its global base of operations. It also maintains research and development offices in Munich, Germany, and Zürich, Switzerland. (DC Inno)

BetterWorld, a Charlottesville company that offers tools to help organizations raise funds, is bringing in some funding of its own. The company has raised $7.35 million in equity from five investors, according to a May 21 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Betterworld’s platform includes tools to set up auctions, raffles, crowdfunding, giveaways, ticketing and more charitable giving options. The company counts more than 95,000 users, including Boys & Girls Clubs, Make-A-Wish America, the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, and USA Cycling. (Richmond Inno)

Alexandria-based tech startup HyperSpectral raised $8.5 million in Series A funding, the company announced June 5. The round was co-led by New York-based RRE Ventures and Kibo Ventures, based in Spain, with participating venture capital firms including San Diego-based Correlation Ventures and San Francisco-based GC&H, the venture capital arm of Cooley. HyperSpectral uses spectroscopy to identify E. coli, salmonella, listeria and other dangerous pathogens for the agricultural and medical industries. (News release)

The River District Association in Danville awarded four businesses more than $52,000 in grants to open or expand their brick-and-mortar businesses in the city’s River District, the organization announced May 22. Nine businesses pitched, and four were awarded funding: Links Coffee House, awarded $13,000; Social Circle Content Marketing, awarded $8,000, plus a $2,500 Community Investment Collaborative grant prize; Nancy Parris Interiors, awarded $10,000; and Valkyrie Aerial Acrobatics, awarded $19,000. (News release)

As of early June, Arlington County cloud management startup Stacklet had raised $14.5 million in funding to help boost its workforce and product offerings. The close of the Series B round brings the company’s total outside investment to $36.5 million since its founding by CEO Travis Stanfield and Kapil Thangavelu in 2020. SineWave Ventures, a San Francisco early-stage venture capital firm with a dual headquarters in Washington, D.C., led the round. Other firms that participated in Stacklet’s latest funding round include McLean’s Capital One Ventures, Palo Alto, California’s Foundation Capital and San Francisco’s Uncorrelated Ventures. (DC Inno)

Virginia Peninsula-based Start Peninsula named three finalists during its May 16 micro-pitch competition: Growables, a Norfolk-based houseplant kit company; Lockgreen, a Suffolk-based company that makes locking stash boxes for cannabis; and Vix, a fitness app from Norfolk-based Beige, a company founded by three Virginia Tech alumni. Each will compete at a championship pitch event for $5,000 in November, along with winners of three other micro-pitch contests held this year. (News release)

PEOPLE

Glen Allen-based fintech Koalafi has named Eric Kobe as president, the company announced May 17. He manages day-to-day operations and reports to Boomer Muth, the company’s CEO. Most recently, Kobe was CEO of Groundspeed, an insurance startup, and before that, held various management positions at Affirm, a leading buy-now, pay-later consumer financing company. “At Affirm, I witnessed the challenges that nearly 50% of prospective customers faced when denied credit,” Kobe said in a statement. “This represents a critical gap in financial access for an underserved population needing to make important purchases.” (News release)

River District Association gives leader a title upgrade

Diana L. Schwartz’s title is changing from executive director to CEO of the River District Association, the Danville downtown revitalization association announced Monday.

The title more accurately reflects her role, according to an RDA news release. It has shifted from creating and managing programs for the downtown business community to putting greater emphasis on growing local leadership, forming strategic relationships and serving as a community and economic development resource.

“Over the past several years, Diana has positioned RDA as a collaborative leader in the region and garnered national recognition for its work in the River District,” RDA Board President Rachel Covington said in a statement. “As the organization grows and begins to influence social and economic development in areas beyond the River District, the RDA board feels that this title change will more accurately reflect the next chapter of the organization.”

The RDA Board of Directors hired Schwartz in 2017. She has overseen the creation of the six-week RDA Dream Launch Bootcamp for entrepreneurs, secured grant funding through programs like Main Street America’s Vote Your Main Street — receiving $150,000 in 2018 to renovate two storefronts into a business incubator and a space to celebrate the area’s civil rights history — and built relationships across the Dan River region. Schwartz has led the association’s growth from a staff of one person to five and tripled the annual budget.

The River District Association was formed in 1999 as the Downtown Danville Association to coordinate downtown revitalization efforts. The RDA and the city of Danville achieved accreditation from the Main Street America and Virginia Main Street programs in 2016.