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When Virginia Commonwealth University closed its buildings in spring 2020, then-student Julien Reininger wasn’t deterred from his entrepreneurial pursuits. In the kitchen of his parents’ Springfield home, Reininger ran a dehydrator for eight hours at a time, creating vegan jerky from canned jackfruit and developing different marinades. “I’m sure when I started doing it, they [&[...]
Va. receives $230M for startup, venture capital funding
Virginia has been approved for as much as $230.4 million in federal funds to accelerate startups, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced Tuesday. The money comes from the Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Virginia will operate five programs, including two loan participation, one loan guarantee and two equity/venture capital programs. Loan programs include [&hellip[...]
Valley of the entrepreneurs
The Shenandoah Valley has long been recognized as fertile ground for agricultural endeavors, but it’s now being seeded to grow an entirely different kind of crop — entrepreneurs. During the past few years, local and regional governmental bodies, nonprofits, and private and educational organizations in the valley have been coordinating efforts to create an entrepreneurial […]
AWS boosts women-led startups
Nessle co-founder and CEO Carly Buxton and her chief technology officer have passed up salaries and dipped into their savings to keep the Richmond-based tech business running since its 2019 launch. The Nessle platform connects new parents with real-time tailored support. To keep Nessle running, Buxton applied for grants and participated in two previous accelerators. […]
Truist invests $7M in Virginia Community Capital
Virginia Community Capital received a $7 million investment from Truist Financial Corp. to support the organization’s Economic Equity Fund, a loan fund to expand access to capital and technical assistance for women- and minority-owned small businesses. VCC’s equity fund was launched in 2021 in response to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women- and […]
Coworking hub for entrepreneurs opening in Harrisonburg
The brains behind the Staunton Innovation Hub are working on bringing a new hub to a new city: the $4.5 million Harrisonburg Innovation Hub is expected to open in late 2023, investors and partners announced Tuesday. Harrisonburg “has a very vibrant and growing startup ecosystem in place already, and there’s just a need for it […]
757 Angels to join VentureSouth network
757 Angels, a Hampton Roads angel investment group that matches venture capitalists with local entrepreneurs, is partnering with VentureSouth, one of the largest angel network groups in the United States, the group announced Friday. The partnership, effective June 2023, will provide more access to capital and investors to 757 Angels’ 140 members. VentureSouth has about […]
Lawyers aim to lower barriers to legal advice for startups
It takes a lot to start a business — a marketable idea, available capital and good advice, among other resources. Tricia Dunlap puts legal guidance in the same bucket. A former history teacher who became a lawyer in her 40s, Dunlap started her own Richmond-based law firm, Dunlap Law PLC, in 2015 to help “un-lawyered […]
Richmond wellness space gets shot from Jack Daniel’s
On his 33rd birthday, Brelan Hillman learned that BareSOUL Yoga and Wellness was selected as one of six finalists to compete for $10,000 in a pitch contest for Black-owned businesses in Richmond. With just a weekend to prepare, Hillman, a business partner and board member for BareSOUL, crafted his three-minute appeal to connect Richmond’s history […]
StartVirginia: Nov. 2022 Heard around Virginia
Virginia Tech‘s Apex Center for Entrepreneurs has received a $500,000 donation from Apex Systems co-founder Win Sheridan. A 1994 Tech graduate, Sheridan made the donation to help the Apex Center engage with student entrepreneurs through programming, networking and funding. Launched in 2014, the Apex Center is named in recognition of a $5 million commitment from […]
Modus Create acquires Philadelphia-based firm
Reston-based Modus Create Inc., a technology consulting firm, has acquired Philadelphia-based product and application development firm Promptworks LLC, Modus announced Tuesday. A dollar amount for the acquisition was not disclosed. The acquisition follows two others made by Modus Create this year. In May, the company acquired Atlas Authority, a New York-based information technology services and [&[...]
Zebox opens U.S. incubator in Arlington
ElectroTempo Inc. CEO and co-founder Ann Xu wants her company’s software to reach 70% of the United States by 2027. Founded in 2020, Electro Tempo provides analytics and tools to help vehicle fleets, utilities and governments optimize the size and location of electric vehicle-charging infrastructure. The company took a step toward accomplishing its goal by […]
