Credit: Canva
Cassidy Beegle
Updated 5/1/2020 by Cassidy Beegle-Jackson.
Virginia’s capital city has historically been a hub of commerce, from early agriculture to industry and manufacturing. Now, Richmond’s young innovation economy is emerging as a promising economic force, anchored by the presence of multiple Fortune 500 companies, a talented workforce pipeline coming from local universities and a small but active investment community.
Key to a thriving startup and entrepreneurship community is access to capital. As innovative early-stage companies continue to crop up in Richmond, they will need funding to grow and expand their operations and ultimately scale their venture.
Below is an index of capital resources available to entrepreneurs in the Richmond area, including venture capital, angel investment and accelerator/incubator programs.
Venture Capital
- Blue Heron Capital - Richmond-based Blue Heron Capital makes growth stage investments in the fields of healthcare and tech-enabled business services. The firm has been actively investing from its $25M BHC I fund over the last several years.
- Harbert Growth Partners - A division of the large Birmingham, AL-based Harbert Management Corporation, Harbert Growth Partners is located in downtown Richmond. HGP makes growth investments, typically between $3 and $7M in high-growth tech and healthcare companies.
- NRV - Founded by three local businessmen, Jim Ukrop, Ted Chandler and Bob Mooney, NRV is focused on the growth of Richmond’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. In May of 2017, NRV announced a new $33M fund to invest in high-growth early-stage companies.
- Tall Oaks Capital - Tall Oaks Capital is based in Charlottesville but focuses on the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern US. Tall Oaks has served as a seed investment advisor to at least one Richmond company, Living MicroSystems, Inc, and supported it with angel funding.
- Virginia Capital Partners - VCP is an established Richmond investment firm, focused on growth investments in health care, media, communications, insurance, consumer and business services and specialty insurance.
Angel and Early-Stage Investors
- CIT GAP Funds - The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) is a Herndon-based non-profit corporation dedicated to accelerating early-stage companies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Through its GAP Funds, CIT makes seed and early-stage investment in Virginia-based tech companies. The GAP Funds have invested $22.4M to help develop 182 high-growth new startups.
- CVA Angels/Lighthouse Labs Syndicate - A Richmond angel investing syndicate, CVA Angels uses local accelerator Lighthouse Labs to help evaluate and vet their investments. The syndicate is led by Arnold Kim, the Richmond entrepreneur who founded MacRumors.com. CVA Angels is led by Richmond-based serial entrepreneurs Brad Cummings and Will Loving.
- New Dominion Angels - New Dominion Angels focuses on investments in mid-Atlantic region and often syndicates investments with other local investment groups. While the firm is agnostic in industries they invest in, their website says the majority of their portfolio companies fall into the SaaS or Internet-of-Things categories.
- Trolley Ventures - Cummings and Loving are also working to raise a $5 to $10M fund under the name Trolley Ventures, according to a March 2017 report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Named for the fact that Richmond was the first city in the world to have electric trolley cars, the fund hopes to support early stage ventures in Central Virginia through investments of $50,000 to $500,000. In June 2018, Trolley revealed that it had already raised $4M and is ready to start making investments in the region.
Accelerators/Incubators
- 1717 Innovation Center - Launched in March, the 1717 Innovation Center, backed by Capital One's $150M Future Edge community initiative, is a newly renovated six-floor building with community meeting spaces, open workspaces and offices for startups. In addition, the building also has a design lab, community board room, meeting rooms and a mother’s room. Nonprofit Startup Virginia, more on the organization below, runs startup programs out of 1717. As an incubator, it can work with and house as many as 50 businesses at a time.
- Dominion - Dominion, the massive energy company headquartered in Richmond, also operates the Dominion Resources Innovation Center in Ashland to focus on supporting energy-focused startups. Entrepreneurs who join as members of the incubator have access to mentoring and advising from Dominion experts and introductions to sources of grant and investment capital.
- Ignition - Down the road in Williamsburg, Ignition operates a coworking space, incubator and accelerator programs. The Ignition Venture Fund is currently under $1M but the organization is hoping to raise $5M to support portfolio companies.
- Lighthouse Labs - Lighthouse Labs is a non-profit startup accelerator program. The three month program gives $20,000 of investment with no equity taken. Lighthouse Labs has 33 portfolio companies who have participated in the accelerator program and have since raised a combined $19M.
- Startup Virginia - A non-profit organization based out of the new 1717 Innovation Center committed to helping local high-growth businesses through space, mentorship, access to capital and more.
- VA Bio+Tech Park - The VA Bio+Tech Park, home to nearly 70 companies, is a life sciences hub and incubator that is adjacent to the medical campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The Park, which employs 2,400 researchers, scientists, engineers and support personnel, houses businesses, state and federal laboratories, and research institutes/administrative functions of VCU and VCU Health
- VCU Pre-X - A part of VCU’s da Vinci Center, the Pre-X program is open to VCU student startups. The program has a $30,000 fund, and access to a network of industry mentors. The accelerator runs from January to April.
Additional Resources
- 1 Million Cups RVA - 1 Million Cups is a weekly event series where one startup has a chance to present and showcase to its peers. Local startups can apply to present.
- Activation Capital - Activation Capital is a Richmond non-profit aimed at connecting local entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed. The group is led by a group of regional corporate, political and startup figures and costs nothing to utilize.
- Gather - With four locations, Gather is one of Richmond’s original coworking destinations. The network of facilities, which offers collaborative work spaces and private offices, is also host to a number of tech and startup events and meetups.
- RVA Works - RVA Works is a joint venture between the Richmond local government and private sector sponsors with the goal of holding events to aid local entrepreneurs, providing resources and skills for founders and helping young businesses access loans.
- The Sandbox - This consulting firm aims to serve companies in their launch and grow their emerging business. The firm is made up of an outcomes-focused team, specializing in finance, operations and employee relations.
- Virginia Community Capital - Founded in 2006 by a group of bipartisan VA legislators, this group seeks to "attract resources of national, state, and local social investors to make a difference in underserved markets around Virginia." Virginia Community Capital works to provide financial resources as well as advisory services to companies and projects that aim to create a positive impact in the community.
- Virginia is for Entrepreneurs - This organization connects entrepreneurs pursuing funding with investors seeking out new opportunities. They also offer various support resources for entrepreneurs.
