VCU Entrepreneurship

02/20/2024

08/19/2023

Well done!

Lighthouse Labs is proud to announce that FIVE of our alumni companies have been named to the 2023 Richmond Inno Fire Awards list! Richmond Inno says the 13 honorees "are changing Richmond's startup and innovation scene," and we couldn't agree more.

Making the list? AnswersNow, Babylon Micro-Farms, Brandefy, Luminoah, and Mobius Materials. These companies have had successful fundraising rounds, expanded into new markets, been featured across tons of news outlets, and grown significantly over the last year.

(We should also mention that Lighthouse made the list!)

Congratulations to all of the honorees! Learn more about all of them here: https://buff.ly/3KL9JHw

08/16/2023

The local organization brings fresh food to vulnerable neighbors.

08/09/2023

Let us introduce you to our next Batch 15 founder, Keya Wingfield of Keya & Co.

Keya is an award-winning baker, owner of a custom dessert studio, and a Food Network Spring Baking Champion. The pandemic brought a pivot to her business - from a focus on event-driven custom desserts to offering customers to-go Indian meals. As a thank you, she included small bags of masala-spiced potato chips. Pretty soon, customers were requesting just the chips! For the past year, Keya has been building a consumer packaged goods company featuring culturally-inspired snack foods, with her Bombay Chips as the first product.

We chose Keya to be a part of Batch 15 because of her vision for building her brand and her desire to engage and learn (and secretly, we're hoping she brings us some chips!). Learn more about her story in this article from Richmond Inno: https://buff.ly/3DAZ5zf

Want to meet her, too? Come to our Meet the Cohort social on August 23 - more info here: https://buff.ly/43wEuXx

07/28/2023

Where science meets commerce, TechTransfer and Ventures is helping inventors find an audience beyond campus.

06/29/2023

Lighthouse Labs needs YOU (as a mentor)!!

Are you a founder yourself? Do you work with or understand startups? Have you got specific expertise that may be valuable to Lighthouse companies?

Mentoring for Lighthouse Labs is an opportunity to invest in the lives of founders. We're looking for mentors who want to help founders (not sell them stuff or services!) by offering your insight, experience, and expertise. Your involvement can be what you want it to be - from an hour or two each cohort to acting as a Lead Mentor.

We're looking for people across all industries, from all backgrounds, with specific expertise in finance, sales, marketing, HR, fundraising, strategy, technical topics, and more. If a startup founder cares about it, and you're an expert in it, we need you!

We want our mentor community to reflect our diverse founder community, which means we're striving to attract more female mentors; more Black, Latinx, and Asian mentors; and more veterans, people with a disability, or LGBTQ+ mentors.

As a mentor, you'll get to spend time with our amazing founders, make valuable connections, propel innovation, and foster collaboration.

Apply here to become a mentor: https://buff.ly/3XjORfQ or reach out to [email protected] with questions.

06/20/2023

A fascinating therapeutic use for VR, being developed and supported in VCU TechTransfer!

VCU VR startup focused on mental health intervention gets NIMH award A VCU startup exploring virtual reality to treat mental health in kids who are at risk of behavioral disorders received $275,000 this spring from the National Institute of Mental Health. The award is part of what’s known as the N...

05/07/2023

We love small businesses that focus on community!

05/07/2023

Today, we would like to thank The Social Ginger for sharing social media trends and insights with our founders!

is a social media marketing agency out of the Richmond, VA area that specializes in helping small to mid-sized businesses come to life on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Pinterest and YouTube. Founder Shannon Loy was a fantastic source of information!

Learn more about Social Ginger here: https://buff.ly/41MN04E

04/20/2023

We’re so happy that our Idea Blitz was a success! Four teams pitched, the audience (in-person and online) voted, and winners announced. Congrats to Garage Wonderland; If You Know, You know; and Dual Enrollment Access for placing in the top 3!!
Thank you to our sponsor, ACG Richmond, for giving our students yet another great opportunity to experience an important part of the entrepreneuship process!

04/20/2023

Please join us for our very first Idea Blitz Pitch Competition, today, from 12:15-12:30. It will stream live (Zoom link in comments), and your vote will help determine the winners!! (In case the QR code doesn't work for you, please find a direct link to the voting form, below. Voting will open as soon as pitches finish.)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgR1RTz811p_nUpNSdPUhwODkWhp1c9ZuEfyq-Kss3mjVJ9w/viewform?usp=sf_link