The Richmond tech startup ecosystem just got a new wave of support to help local companies scale for years to come.
Nonprofit entrepreneurial support organization Activation Capital announced this week it will award up to $1 million to Lighthouse Labs to help expand its accelerator program.
The funding will flow over the course of three years, with $500,000 coming in July 2020. That will help back three cohorts of startups. Activation Capital will track a few milestones, and, if met, they will award Lighthouse another $500,000 in 2022.
Lighthouse, a nonprofit, provides select startups with a three-month program and $20,000 in funding -- and it doesn't take any equity. It provides access to accomplished mentors and networking with potential investors and customers.
"Our program yields a 25:1 return, demonstrating the impact Lighthouse has on the economy," Lighthouse Labs President Joe Kunkel said in a news release. "We are excited to continue our partnership with Activation Capital and the work they are doing for the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Virginia.”
Activation Capital's new funding for Lighthouse Labs comes a couple months after the organization awarded a total of $500,000 to Startup Virginia, a local startup incubator based out of the 1717 Innovation Center, and $225,000 for programming and regulatory support at the newly created Health Innovation Consortium.
And it comes less than a month after Lighthouse Labs' capstone competition for its fall 2019 cohort.
Activation also recently announced that its Virginia Bio+Tech Park, a 34-acre downtown campus that hosts about 70 businesses and research organizations, will add a 100,000-square-foot building to house budding startups and more established biotech companies.
