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byline: Robyn Sidersky

Torc makes interim CFO permanent

Blacksburg-based self-driving truck company Torc Robotics, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck, hired Richard Kannan as its new chief financial officer, the company announced Thursday. Kannan, who had served as interim CFO since August, will also become a member of Torc’s executive leadership team.

“Richard has proven himself to be an invaluable asset to Torc during his time as interim CFO, and I am thrilled to welcome him as a permanent member of our executive team,” Peter Vaughan Schmidt, Torc Robotics’ CEO, said in a statement. “Richard helps shape our operational and business decisions using a data-driven approach. This will be essential as we work toward scalable market entry in 2027.”

Before joining Torc, Kannan worked in several industries and has served in senior roles for General Electric, where he worked for 16 years, and Genworth Financial, where he worked for a decade, according to his LinkedIn page.

“Being able to contribute to Torc’s vision of transforming the trucking industry with autonomous technology is an incredible opportunity and one that I look forward to taking on as chief financial officer,” Kannan said in a statement. “To collaborate with such smart people here at Torc, alongside our partner Daimler Truck AG, is an honor. I look forward to helping create value for our many stakeholders as we drive the future of freight.”

Kannan is a licensed CPA in Virginia and has a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In December 2023, Torc hired a new chief information security officer, Summer Craze Fowler.

Torc was founded as Torc Technologies in 2005 by a group of Virginia Tech robotics students and originally stood for Tele-Operated Robotic Controls. It has test facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico and engineering offices in Austin, Texas; Stuttgart, Germany, and Montreal, Canada. Daimler Truck acquired Torc in 2019. In 2022, Schmidt became its CEO.

Former US Treasury Secretary Snow to retire from Armada Hoffler board

Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow will retire from real estate firm Armada Hoffler’s board of directors, the Virginia Beach company announced this week.

Snow, 84, has served as a director since Armada Hoffler went public in 2013 and served as lead independent director from 2013 to 2019. He was treasury secretary for President George W. Bush’s administration. Snow was also chairman and CEO of Jacksonville, Florida-based transportation company CSX from 1986 to 2003 and served on several other boards and councils.

Armada Hoffler’s board of directors recently approved an amendment to its corporate governance guidelines that directors older than 80 will no longer run for re-election.

“I have greatly enjoyed my time with Armada Hoffler and am proud to have served on the board since the IPO. I am delighted by the growth the company has seen since going public and have every confidence in the company’s future and the new leadership team,” said Snow, who as a Bush Cabinet member steered the 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Act, shaping domestic and global economic policy.

“John has been a dedicated and valuable member of our board of directors, and we are deeply grateful for his guidance, leadership and service,” Lou Haddad, CEO of Armada Hoffler, said in a statement. “John has been instrumental in shaping this board and its future. We wish him well.”

Last month, Armada Hoffler announced that it expects to promote Shawn Tibbetts to CEO in spring 2025 when Haddad plans to retire.

Armada Hoffler is the real estate giant behind Virginia Beach’s Town Center. The firm’s flagship project was built as part of a public-private partnership. As of last fall, it had 51 large-scale commercial assets and had developed more than $800 million in new projects. It has operations in seven mid-Atlantic states and also provides general construction and development services to third-party clients. It was founded in 1979 by Dan Hoffler.

JLL: NoVa is still nation’s top data center market

Northern Virginia remains the country’s largest data center market, according to a report released Monday by real estate company JLL.

The 581 megawatts of capacity leased by energized — or built-out — data centers in Northern Virginia for 2023 represented a new record, according to the JLL report. Data centers leased 184 MW in capacity in energized buildings in Northern Virginia for the first half of 2023, and 397 MW in energized buildings during the second half of the year. (Data center leases are measured primarily by critical power supply, the electrical load devoted to a data center’s IT infrastructure such as data servers, communications switches and routers.)

By comparison, the primary North American data center markets saw 4.3 gigawatts of transactions in 2023, according to JLL report. Secondary markets added 554 megawatts for the year.

It’s the fourth straight year Northern Virginia has experienced record demand, according to the report, and secondary markets saw significant declines in their share of overall data center demand as a result.

The total inventory of gross square feet dedicated to data centers in Northern Virginia is about 51 million square feet, the report states, with about 167,000 square feet vacant and 13.4 million square feet under construction. An additional 58.6 million square feet of data center development is planned in Northern Virginia. The primary Virginia localities measured by the report were Loudoun and Prince William counties. 

In 2023, the region led the nation in data center leasing activity, with 1.6 gigawatts of transaction volume, including anticipated deliveries in the next few years, according to the North American Data Center Report. 

For all of North America, data center transaction volume in single-asset and portfolio sales was up to $4.6 billion for 2023, up from $2.8 billion in 2022, a 67% increase, according to the report. Figures for Northern Virginia were not available.

The power used by data centers in Virginia doubled between 2018 and 2022, according to Richmond-based utility Dominion Energy. That capacity is expected to double again statewide by 2028, based on customer orders, according to the report. Vacancy is below 2% and cloud computing makes up 82% of the demand in Northern Virginia. Behind that, other technology makes up for about 15% of the demand. Raw numbers by industry were not available.

According to the JLL report, there is a lack of available data center leasing options offering more than 1 megawatt. To address current constraints and meet future demand, Dominion Energy has two transmission lines under construction in Northern Virginia to serve the data center market. 

More than 70% of the world’s internet traffic comes through Data Center Alley, six square miles in Loudoun County’s Ashburn area, and in 2022, Northern Virginia accounted for 64% of the total new data center capacity brought online in primary markets across the U.S., according to the North American Data Center Trends Report by CBRE.

However, data centers have become a point of contention in Northern Virginia, particularly in Prince William County. Supervisors voted late last year to approve the Prince William Digital Gateway, a 2,100-acre, 23 million-square-foot campus that is expected to be the world’s largest data center facility, with an expected $500 million in local annual tax revenue when finished. The vote came after a 27-hour public meeting filled with residents opposing and supporting the project, and state lawmakers are pushing for more oversight of local data center decisions.

But localities in Central Virginia and points east and west are also courting data centers, and in January 2023, Amazon Web Services announced it would invest $35 billion by 2040 to establish multiple data center campuses across the commonwealth. There’s growing interest in areas outside Northern Virginia due to lower land prices and more available property, officials say.

 

Buc-ee’s eyes Stafford for third Va. location

The most recognized — perhaps only — hat-wearing beaver in the travel center industry is eyeing a third location in Virginia, this time in Stafford County.

Texas-based travel center chain Buc-ee’s has submitted a conditional use permit application to Stafford County for a 74,000-square-foot travel center with 120 fueling stations on about 36 acres on the eastern side of Austin Ridge Drive between Courthouse Road and Shield Road, off Exit 140 of Interstate 95. A general development plan also shows 24 Tesla charging stations, 833 parking spaces, a dozen bus/RV spaces and a bike plaza. The center is estimated to create 200 jobs, according to a project narrative, with the average pay starting at $16 to $19 per hour along with health benefits and 401(K) participation.

Buc-ee’s has not yet purchased the land for the Stafford County location. The land is currently owned by Rocky Ridge LLC, according to the CUP application.

The application is under staff review and has not been scheduled for public hearings before the county’s planning commission or board of supervisors. The process could take up to nine months from submission to when it gets to the board of supervisors. The application does not include a timeline for the project.

At the end of January, Buc-ee’s broke ground on a travel center in Rockingham County after purchasing 21.3 acres for $6.6 million in September 2023. Construction on that center is expected to take 17 months.

Just before that purchase, Buc-ee’s paid $5.6 million for nearly 28 acres in New Kent County at Exit 211 off Interstate 64. Last March, Buc-ee’s filed for a conditional use permit for signage in New Kent.

Buc-ee’s is planning to have four total Virginia locations, according a June 2023 news release from S.L. Nusbaum Realty.

Founded in 1982, Buc-ee’s has 34 stores in Texas and 14 centers in other states, including Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Colorado.

Tegna expands contract with Comscore

Tysons-based Tegna, the nation’s largest owner of NBC-affiliate TV stations, has reached a multiyear deal with Reston-based Comscore, which will continue providing media metrics and audience measurement services across the broadcaster’s local TV, major affiliate and digital businesses, the companies announced Friday.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

With this expansion, Comscore will cover all 51 of Tegna’s markets nationwide, up from the 22 markets it was previously serving for Tegna. Tegna and Comscore previously renewed the deal in 2020, when Comscore had been providing media metrics for Tegna in 18 markets.

“Expanding our partnership with Comscore will offer us deeper insights through digital and qualitative data, enriching cross-platform solutions for our valued advertising partners,” Lynn Beall, Tegna’s executive vice president and chief operating officer of media operations, said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with our clients to deliver their targeted audiences across any platform with precision and effectiveness to grow their business.”

“Comscore is proud to be a valued partner to Tegna, which is known for its trustworthy and impactful local journalism and strong connections to the communities they serve,” Comscore CEO Jon Carpenter said in a statement. The combination of our local linear TV data and our groundbreaking cross-platform solutions will help Tegna measure the value of their content and deliver outsized value for their advertisers across linear and digital. We’re excited to begin this latest phase of our partnership.”

 

Getting off the ground

When Sid Pailla applied to join Richmond-based accelerator Lighthouse Labs in 2020, he had an idea, a product and early customers but, he acknowledges, “at the end of the day, we didn’t exactly have a business.”

Sunny Day Fund, Pailla’s Falls Church startup, offers an emergency savings platform to which employers contribute in an effort to help employees avoid dipping into retirement funds when they have no emergency savings. The idea “was very much something that was working, but not something that was going to be able to be scalable and something that could be a venture-backed business,” he says.

But over the course of 11 weeks Pailla spent with Lighthouse Labs, Sunny Day Fund began to shine.

“With Lighthouse Labs, what caught our attention was, here was a program that was truly intended to help founders kind of figure out what does it mean to be a venture-backed company and all the different stakeholders that are involved in that process, including early hires, including investors, channel partners and so on,” Pailla says. “So, for us, it was a very formative part of our journey.”

Lighthouse Labs helped Sunny Day Fund increase its revenue, make its second hire — an account executive — and attract private equity financing.

‘Founder-friendly’

That’s the business Lighthouse Labs and other incubators and accelerators are in: Helping entrepreneurs figure out the best way to do business.

“We consider ourselves founder-friendly,” says Art Espey, former interim managing director of Lighthouse Labs. “We really try to help founders understand how to work with investors so it’s a good deal for the investors and a good deal for the founders.”

Lighthouse Labs, which has named former Shenandoah Community Capital Executive Director Debbie Irwin as its permanent managing director, annually runs two cohorts, with about eight companies accepted each session. Startups receive $20,000 in equity-free funding, as well as mentoring, education, programming and networking opportunities. The accelerator is popular and competitive; about 250 companies applied for spots in Lighthouse Labs’ spring cohort.

Across the commonwealth, a host of accelerators and incubators are helping founders get startups off the ground and scale up with the help of mentors, financial institutions, investors and perks such as equity-free funding and free office space. (See related list of coworking spaces below story.)

The first and final week of Lighthouse Labs’ program are in person, with a demo day and investor dinner included, but the rest is virtual, with each week themed around specific topics, such as marketing or human resources.

Meg Pryde, CEO and founder of Richmond-based Brandefy, was part of a Lighthouse Labs cohort in 2018. As a University of Virginia Darden School of Business student, she created Brandefy, which allows customers to compare skin care product prices and ingredients, at U.Va.’s incubator, i.Lab.

The mentors and advisers she met through Lighthouse Labs are still valuable to her, Pryde says, and the funding helped her determine if her business model would work.

Brandefy has doubled its revenue from a year ago, Pryde says, and its mobile app has been downloaded more than half a million times.

Pryde is thankful, too, for the relation-ships with other entrepreneurs from her cohort, as well as investors she met through Lighthouse Labs and Startup Virginia. They’ve helped her raise more than $1 million in capital, helping Brandefy expand. 

Pailla also places a high value on the relationships he built at Lighthouse Labs. “The whole cohort mentality was incredible for us,” he says. “There’s a very strong camaraderie.”

‘Faster and smarter’

For the past four years, Pryde has been a member of Startup Virginia, an incubator based in Richmond.

Startup Virginia has incubated 80 companies, according to its 2022 impact report, supporting them through one-on-one guidance and assistance with investment preparedness, mentoring, corporate partnerships, leadership training and more. The incubator, says Executive Director Richard Wintsch, helps companies “grow faster and smarter than they would on their own.”

Unlike more specialized organizations that focus only on early or mid-stage startups, Startup Virginia works with entrepreneurs at different stages — from those who are just getting going to founders who have raised Series A and B rounds. 

It also offers a 9-week entrepreneurial certificate course and the 7-week Idea Factory course, which helps participants refine their products and services to connect with customer needs. Startup Virginia manages the VentureSouth Virginia angel group, which pairs investors and mentors with startups and early-stage companies. Since 2008, VentureSouth has invested $80 million in more than 100 companies.

In Hampton Roads, Norfolk-based 757 Accelerate is a major player in the startup ecosystem. It has a similar mission to Lighthouse Labs and Startup Virginia, offering an annual 12-week session for between five and nine companies. 757 Accelerate receives 160 to 180 applications for those spots each year.

Applicants answer questions about their companies’ stages and personalities: Are they innovative and disruptive? Are they seeking equity investors or angel funders? How fast are they growing? Are they based in Virginia or willing to move here? To get a coveted space in the cohort, founders have to answer a lot of questions.

“We focus very much on investor readiness,” 757 Accelerate Executive Director Eileen Brewer says. “We are looking for startups [that] have customers and revenue and are ready to grow and need angel investing to support rapid growth.”

The accelerator gives cohort members $20,000 in undiluted funding, in addition to mentoring and programming. While some accelerators are focused on certain industries like health care or tech, 757 Accelerate is industry-agnostic — although most of its cohort members are tech companies such as Flying Ship, which makes aerial drones designed to fly over water, or makers of consumer products such as Mocktail Club, a line of nonalcoholic cocktails.

One benefit 757 Accelerate offers is the “investor road show,” allowing founders to pitch to angel investor groups in person, taking buses to Tysons, Charlottesville and Raleigh, North Carolina, to get face time with investors.

Aligned with 757 Accelerate is 757 Startup Studios, an incubator, and 757 Angels, which connects investors with founders. 757 Angels also works with VentureSouth. All three operate under the umbrella of 757 Collab, which has deployed $105 million in capital, helped 190 startups since its 2015 launch and worked across industries between the three organizations.

Norfolk-based 757 Startup Studios helps early-stage founders with their business journeys. Selected through an application process, entrepreneurs develop business ideas and customer discovery, with the entrepreneurship hub providing mentorship, programming, coworking space and free Wi-Fi. 757 Startup Studios provides rent-free space for up to 12 months to about 30 startup founders simultaneously.

‘The nucleus’ of innovation

In Roanoke, the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program, or RAMP, serves startups across the Roanoke and New River valleys. Traditionally, that part of Virginia hasn’t had as many resources for entrepreneurs, but John Hagy, RAMP’s executive director, notes that his organization is helping change that. “We view RAMP as the nucleus of Southwest Virginia’s innovation and startup economy.”

Each year, RAMP welcomes two cohorts of five companies each for its 12-week RAMP-in-Residence program. About 15 to 20 companies apply for five spaces, Hagy notes, a comfortable number that provides a sizable peer group for cohort members but doesn’t overtax RAMP’s network of mentors and other participants.

Hagy sees RAMP as a critical layer of being able to take companies from ideation through growth stages, fundraising, private capital and post-acceleration.

Since its founding in 2017, RAMP has assisted 48 companies, which receive $20,000 each in non-equity funding, mentoring, free office space and other perks.

Like other startup boosters, RAMP has three primary functions: programming, mentoring and networking. Hagy, who started in January, says RAMP’s goal is to provide a full linear path, from having the idea to fundraising, growing and successfully accomplishing a mission.

One of RAMP’s programs, the pre-accelerator On RAMP, supports early-stage tech, health and life sciences companies. At the other end of the spectrum is Exit RAMP, an alumni program that includes meetings with venture capitalists and other investors, pitch polishing workshops and further coaching.

Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is growing and evolving. Friendly competition exists among accelerators, incubators and other hubs — but they’re also collegial, working together to raise Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to new heights.

“Our reason for being here is to help startups to be successful, to help grow the economy, to help the private sector in the region grow and create jobs and entice people to move to the region,” says 757 Accelerate’s Brewer. “So, there is no animosity about someone getting into someone else’s program. It’s really a very friendly ecosystem. We’re supportive of each other.”

Tourism: Game on

According to the state government, visitor spending across Virginia surpassed $30 billion in 2022, exceeding 2019 expenditures by 4.4%. Nevertheless, business travel still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, particularly in Northern Virginia. But leisure travel is back and booming.

Hotel revenues were up 13% statewide in 2023, compared with 2019, with more rooms sold at higher prices, due to inflation. Charlottesville saw room revenue rise 30% over pre-pandemic numbers, while Hampton Roads room revenue was up 22.6%.

Not surprisingly, the beach, Virginia’s historic attractions, sporting events and outdoor activities were big draws last year, as were the state’s three new casinos in Bristol, Portsmouth and Danville.

The three casinos brought in $58.5 million in December 2023, up from $51.9 million in November. The temporary Hard Rock casino in Bristol reported $157 million in net gaming revenues in its first year of operation, while Rivers Casino Portsmouth, the state’s first permanent casino, racked up almost $250 million last year. Danville’s Caesars Virginia casino, meanwhile, which opened in a temporary space in late May 2023 while a permanent casino is under construction, generated about $145 million for the six months it operated last year.

The permanent casinos in Bristol and Danville are expected to be completed by the end of this year, although the clock is ticking on Norfolk’s casino, a joint venture between the King William-based Pamunkey Indian Tribe and Tennessee billionaire Jon Yarbrough. Its plans have still not met local officials’ approval.

The casino’s developers submitted new plans late last year to the city government, aiming to start construction this spring, with completion planned by November 2025, the statutory deadline. Meanwhile, Richmond voters said no a second time to a casino, and now talk about a possible fifth casino in Petersburg or Fairfax County is building, although a General Assembly bill proposing a referendum in Fairfax has been tabled until 2025.

Another major deal waiting on General Assembly approval is a proposed $2 billion entertainment complex in Alexandria that would include a new arena for the Washington Wizards NBA team and the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Although it has the full backing of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and some Northern Virginia officials, many residents and some state legislators have expressed wariness and even strong opposition. If the General Assembly and Youngkin sign off on plans for a proposed sports and entertainment district in Alexandria, it would bring a 9 million-square-foot project to the Potomac Riverfront in National Landing, very close to Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters

Youngkin calls it a “once-in-a-generation historic development,” but Senate Democrats put the brakes on a bill that would create an authority for the project. A House bill was still alive in mid-February.

In other tourism and hospitality news, Kings Dominion’s parent company, Cedar Fair Entertainment, announced in November 2023 an $8 billion merger with Six Flags Entertainment that is expected to close in the first half of this year. And in York County, Princess Cruise Lines aborted its plans for making it a port of call this year and instead plans to stop in Norfolk. The proposal to bring in cruise line passengers had encountered opposition from local residents, some of whom expressed concerns regarding the potential environmental impact.

Also, Kalahari Resorts broke ground in Spotsylvania County in October 2023 for its $900 million destination water park resort, planned to include a 907-room hotel and 150,000 square feet of convention space. (See related story.) Local officials are bullish about the project, which is expected to bring in $83 million in tax revenue over its first 20 years and create up to 1,400 jobs when it opens in 2026.  

This story has been updated from an earlier version.


 

Real Estate and Construction: Hot properties

It was a rough year for prospective homebuyers, especially those seeking houses in Northern Virginia and the Richmond area.

Home sales in Virginia were the lowest the market has seen since 2014, dropping 20% from 2022 to 2023, according to data released in January by Virginia Realtors. Hampton Roads and Shenandoah Valley home sales also dropped precipitously. Across the state, 98,464 residences sold last year, down from 123,244 in 2022. And with fewer listings, prices went up too, with the median sale price at $390,000, up 4% from 2022.

High interest rates set by the Federal Reserve to lower inflation meant many borrowers stayed put, waiting for a better moment to make a move. That time may come for some buyers in 2024, as the Fed is expected to lower interest rates three times this year, likely starting in March or May.

Not only are high rates giving homebuyers pause, they’re also impacting Realtors, brokers, lenders and others in the industry. Laura Lafayette, CEO of the Richmond Association of Realtors, said last fall that “golden handcuffs” are keeping homeowners from selling, translating into less work for real estate professionals. “I think most Realtor associations across the state are budgeting for a modest loss in membership.” 

Despite challenges in residential real estate, there was progress in commercial real estate over the past year. In Virginia Beach, the $335 million Atlantic Park project, led by Venture Realty Group and Pharrell Williams, broke ground in March 2023, and the $2.4 billion Diamond District project in Richmond was set to start phase one in early 2024. In February, Caesars Virginia topped off its permanent Danville casino, which is expected to be open by the end of this year.

Meanwhile in Arlington, the first two towers of Amazon.com’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters campus opened in June 2023 — although even the e-tailer is acknowledging the impact of work-from-home and hybrid employment, pausing construction on phase two of the campus.

Next door, in Alexandria, the opening of Virginia Tech’s first Innovation Campus building has been delayed until 2025 due to construction supply chain problems.

Data center growth continued strong in Loudoun, Prince William and Stafford counties, although some residents and elected officials have expressed outright opposition to massive data center campuses taking up rural and historic land.

Meanwhile, construction firms in Virginia and beyond are saying that labor shortages, interest rates and supply chain issues are likely to continue impacting their businesses this year.

Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America until March 31, said that 2024 “offers a mixed bag for construction contractors. On one hand, demand for many types of projects should continue to expand. Meanwhile, they face significant challenges when it comes to finding workers, coping with rising costs and weathering the impacts of higher interest rates.”

Data centers, water and sewer infra- structure and roads are all among high- dollar projects contractors expect to compete for in 2024, and business owners and politicians are all pushing for more affordable housing.

“Everyone is struggling with this issue, but we can learn from each other,” notes Tom Barkin, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Land availability and cost, he notes, are key issues in Virginia, with finished lot costs accounting for nearly 20% of the average sales price of a new single-family home in 2022. 

 

Charlottesville’s Astraea acquired by Fla. satellite company

Astraea, a Charlottesville-based geospatial analytics firm, has been acquired by Nuview, a Florida-based company developing a satellite imaging constellation, the companies announced Tuesday.

Financial terms of the deal were not available.

Founded as a for-profit benefit corporation in 2016, Astraea applies data science and artificial intelligence to analyze imaging and sensor data gathered from Earth-observing satellites.

“This acquisition of Astraea will allow Nuview to diversify and strengthen its position across multiple markets, leveraging its expanding client base and expertise,” according to a news release from the companies announcing the acquisition.

Founded in 2022, Orlando, Florida-based Nuview is developing a constellation of satellites planned for launch in 2025 that will use lidar technology to scan and map large areas of Earth terrain from space, creating 3D imaging. The acquisition of Astraea will add advanced geospatial image analysis to Nuview’s capabilities. The startup was named to Time magazine’s list of the best inventions of 2023 for its planned lidar satellite constellation. Nuview’s clients include the U.S. Department of Defense and commercial interests.

“Nuview’s lidar technology will provide centimeter-scale accuracy in geospatial intelligence and mapping that is pivotal for defense, climate initiatives, telecommunications, agriculture, energy and national mapping initiatives,” according to the news release.

Astraea CEO and co-founder Daniel Bailey said, “Nuview shares Astraea’s passion for finding solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems through Earth observation and data analytics. With only an estimated 5% of the world mapped with the accuracy that only lidar technology can bring, Nuview’s groundbreaking space-based lidar, coupled with Astraea’s platform infrastructure, is poised to offer unprecedented AI solutions and indispensable data vital for advancing global climate initiatives and sustainable development.”

When the war between Ukraine and Russia began, Astraea spearheaded an effort to provide free satellite imagery that could be used to assist Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, as well as civilians and humanitarian organizations. In July 2022, Astraea closed an oversubscribed $6.5 million Series A round led by Aligned Climate Capital and Carbon Drawdown Collective with participation from CAV Angels, Tyndall Investment Partners and the University of Virginia Licensing & Ventures Group Seed Fund.

Former Va. ABC chief joins Hunton Andrews Kurth

Travis Hill, former CEO of the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and former Virginia deputy secretary of agriculture and forestry, has joined Richmond-based law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth, Virginia’s second-largest law firm announced Tuesday.

Hill is a counsel for the firm’s Global Economic Development, Commerce and Government Relations Group (GECON), according to a news release. He stepped down as Virginia ABC’s CEO in September 2023 after nearly a decade with the authority.

Hill served as deputy secretary of agriculture under Govs. Bob McDonnell and Terry McAuliffe. He was appointed chief operating officer of Virginia ABC in 2014 by Gov. Terry McAuliffe and led a multiyear effort to transition ABC from a state agency to an authority. He was appointed as CEO by Gov. Ralph Northam in 2018 and reappointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2022. Before serving in state government, he was an attorney in private practice.

“In just a few short years, Hunton Andrews Kurth’s public affairs consultancy has grown into a valuable resource for clients,” Randall S. Parks, chairman of the Hunton Andrews Kurth executive committee, said in a statement. “The group’s remarkable growth and diverse roster of clients demonstrates the quality of our government relations, economic development and communications professionals. We believe our clients will benefit from Travis’ unique experiences as a lawyer, executive and regulator, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the firm.”

The firm’s GECON group provides services such as lobbying and government relations, strategic communication and public relations, business and economic development, site selection and incentive negotiation. Hill will work out of the firm’s Richmond offices.

“I was fortunate to have a number of incredible opportunities available to me when I left state government, but Hunton Andrews Kurth was a natural fit because of its reputation for client service, professionalism and innovation,” Hill said in a statement. “It’s very exciting to join such a dynamic and growing group, and I look forward to putting my experience in regulated industries to work for clients around the country.”

Hunton Andrews Kurth has more than 900 attorneys in the U.S., Asia, Europe and the Middle East.