June 2023: Heard around Virginia

Agricultural biotech startup AgroSpheres will invest $25 million to expand in Albemarle County, creating an estimated 50 jobs, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced May 4. The company, founded in 2016 by Payam Pourtaheri and Ameer Shakeel when they were undergraduates at the University of Virginia, will increase production at its facility at 1180 Seminole Trail and build a research and development and demonstration facility for new products. AgroSpheres has two patented technologies, AgriCell and AgriShell, that aid development of biological pesticides with multiyear shelf lives. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Virginia Beach resident Crystal Lugo spent 10 years developing her patented product, the GloveScaler, a tool for removing fish scales in one motion while protecting hands from a dangerous bacterial infection. On April 29, her business, B & C’s Gloves LLC, won the grand prize of $25,000 during the Pull Up and Pitch contest, part of music superstar Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water music festival. The second-place prize, $15,000, went to Brittney and Javon Callier of Pour and Stay Full, a Chesapeake-based business that offers coaching, therapeutic cooking classes and catering. (The Virginian-Pilot)

Capra Biosciences Inc. secured $2 million from BioMADE, a public-private partnership backed by New York’s Schmidt Futures, to advance the development of bioreactors, vessels that grow microorganisms. The Manassas-based company will nearly double its headcount, build out a 10,000-square-foot facility as its new headquarters and start making retinol, an ingredient made from petroleum and used in anti-aging cosmetics products — and then sell it to cosmetics companies, third-party manufacturers and chemical distributors. Capra’s technology is a roughly 3-foot stackable bioreactor that transforms raw materials into chemicals. The company started in 2020 and has been operating out of the Prince William Science Accelerator. (Washington Business Journal)

Goochland County-based indoor farming startup Greenswell Growers launched a co-branded leafy microgreens product in April with Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods that is now available at 90 Kroger stores in the mid-Atlantic. In the next couple of months, the company expects to launch a Greenswell-branded product available in two more grocery chains, and by summer or early fall, it’s set to break ground on an expansion that will triple the operation’s size to 4.2 acres. To fund growth, Greenswell recently raised $6.92 million in equity and debt. (Richmond Inno)

McLean-based wealth management startup Range raised a $12 million Series A round led by Palo Alto, California’s Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund, the company said May 3. Range will use the money to grow its product and engineering teams to build new offerings for customers, including integrating its wealth management tools with AI technologies to automate certain money and tax planning actions. Founded in 2021, Range combines in-house financial advisers with machine-learning insights for its services, which include tax, retirement and estate planning, investment services, insurance optimization and education planning. Darian Shirazi, general partner at Gradient Ventures, is joining Range’s board of directors as part of the deal. (Washington Business Journal)

PEOPLE

Norfolk-based 757 Collab announced leadership changes and promotions to its umbrella organization May 3. Hunter Walsh, previously a program manager for 757 Startup Studios, a coworking space in Norfolk where selected entrepreneurs can set up offices at no cost and receive mentoring, became the studios’ director on May 1. Eileen Brewer, previously 757 Collab’s director of strategic partnerships, succeeded Evans McMillion as executive director of 757 Accelerate on the same day. Paul Nolde, former executive managing director of Lighthouse Labs in Richmond, was set to start as managing director of 757 Collab and executive director of 757 Angels on May 30. (VirginiaBusiness.com)