Updated 4/27/2020 by Cassidy Beegle Jackson.
Breaking into Richmond’s burgeoning startup community is simple if you know where to look. Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to expand your network or evangelize your product, an investor looking for promising young companies or someone trying to find a job with local startups, there are a number of great resources and groups where you can access RVA’s innovation community.
Below is a list of meetup groups, economic development organizations and others dedicated to fostering Richmond’s startup economy. You’ll find a brief overview of each group, its purpose, target audience and example of recent or upcoming offerings.
Tech community organizers, events and meetup groups
1 Million Cups Richmond -
1 Million Cups is a weekly event series where one local startup has a chance to present and showcase to its peers. Richmond area startups can apply to present at future 1 Million Cups meetings. Recent featured startups include CrowdLobby, Lighthouse Data Holdings and PYT Funds.
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.
DevOps RVA -
DevOps RVA’s self-defined goal is to “foster collaboration and education among the Richmond, VA community of DevOps enthusiasts and practitioners.” The group meets on the last Wednesday of every month to cover different aspects and tools of DevOps and hear from presenters on an array of topics.
HackRVA -
HackRVA is a local makerspace that hosts numerous events related to making, building and creating. The space hosts an open house on the first Thursday of every month where attendees can “show off a project, talk nerdy, socialize or just hang out,” as well as tour the HackRVA space and learn about the benefits of membership. Other events include a mix of paid and free classes on everything from sewing to welding. HackRVA also has meetup groups specifically for women and for parents and kids.
ProductTank Richmond
ProductTank Richmond is a Meetup group that creates a space for Product Managers in Richmond to "exchange ideas and experiences about Product Design, Development and Management, Business Modeling, Metrics, User Experience and all the other things that get us excited." Their events consist of guest speaker talks, networking and casual meetups.
PyRVA -
This Meetup group of Python users organizes talks, hackathons, workshops and more to help build up the Python community in Richmond. The groups hosts a monthly lecture night as well as a monthly coding night.
Richmond Bitcoin and Blockchain -
The Richmond Bitcoin and Blockchain group is aimed at bitcoin and blockchain entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, technologists and investors. The meetups are organized by the VCU Cryptography Lab and hosted at the VCU School of Engineering. Past meetups have focused on the topics of blockchain computing and design, the use of blockchain in e-voting and presentations on other types of cryptocurrency.
Richmond Data Science Community -
The Richmond Data Science Community “helps educates people in the field of data visualizations, machine learning, applied mathematics and statistics.” The organization’s Meetup group hosts monthly events where they “encourage our members to give a talk, present or come and share the knowledge and experiences on data analytics related topics. We encourage students, data professionals, programmers, developers and interested people to join and make this community smarter and successful.”
Richmond Technology Council (rvatech) -
The Richmond Technology Council aka rvatech is a regional organization that hosts more than 60 events a year to give entrepreneurs the “opportunity to connect with business and government leaders.” These events, which include their rvatech/on tap and rvatech/breakfast series, are also great opportunities to network and hear directly from local innovators about their businesses and experiences. The Richmond Technology Council’s larger annual events include RVA TechJam, “the region’s premier showcase of tech at the intersection of startup and enterprise,” the rvatech/gala “celebrating the many breakthroughs, advancements, and outstanding technologists who are driving our technology-based economy,” and rvatech/women, “Virginia’s premier conference on women in technology, hosted by the Richmond Technology Council’s WIT Forum.”
RVA Data Hackers -
Another group of data enthusiasts, RVA Data Hackers “is a community of programmers who meet regularly to develop skills and learn about the tools and techniques of Big Data. We discuss how to find, organize, understand and serve data sets large and small. We'll cover anything related to 'big data' -- machine learning, artificial intelligence and architectures to scale Big Data for the Internet.” The group meets monthly.
RVA.js -
RVA.js is a Meetup group of JavaScript professionals and enthusiasts. The 800 member-strong group hosts monthly meetings in the Richmond area on the first Tuesday of every month. Presenters cover in-depth ins and outs of JavaScript and there are often free meals and beers.
ScrumRVA -
ScrumRVA is a Meetup group that aims to provide scrum practitioners a space to learn and grow through monthly events. The group of more than 1,300 members meets the last Tuesday of every month in the form of Lightning Talks, Lean Coffee, Open Space, Guest Speakers and more.
Startup Grind Richmond -
Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind is global community of more than 500 chapters that aims to foster the development of startup ecosystems. They do this through partnerships and events with major companies such as Google for Startups. These events are centered around education and inspiration and instill the Startup Grind values of "making friends not contacts, in giving not taking, and helping others before helping ourselves."
Startup Virginia -
Launched in 2016, Startup Virginia is a non-profit organization based out of the new 1717 Innovation Center committed to helping local high-growth businesses through space, education, events, mentorship, access to capital and more. Already, Startup Virginia offers 80+ startups access to its network of more than 200 mentors.
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.
Venture Forum RVA -
Venture Forum RVA organizes a series of monthly events aimed at entrepreneurs, investors and startup employees. Venture Forum holds four types of events: “educational luncheons that feature a panel discussion, happy hours at various businesses located throughout the city, the annual RVA Companies to Watch awards, and the annual Virginia Venture Summit,” which brings attendees interested in startups a series of panels, speakers and a “Showcase Startup Alley.”
Women Who Code Richmond -
The Richmond chapter of the worldwide organization Women Who Code, this group hosts events such as free technical study groups, panels, lightning talks, and keynotes, hack events, and career and leadership development workshops. The group bills itself “for professional women in technology careers. Current and aspiring coders are welcome.” Attendees should bring their own laptops to events to participate. Past events have included Front End Study Nights, Python bootcamps, Clean Code study groups and social events.
WORK Studios -
WORK Studios, formerly 804RVA, is a local coworking space that has also taken a lead in organizing and hosting community events. Their Meetup group has more than 2,400 members, and the events they host center around technology, social media and small business. Some upcoming events and groups hosting events at WORK Studios are the Richmond Adobe User Group Meeting, RVA Data Hackers and Free Code Camp.
