Though they’re in different fields and at different stages, three Richmond startups see Lighthouse Labs as an avenue for them to acquire expert advice, grow, get to market and connect to a supportive founder community.
The three local startups — Nessle, Llamawood and LipLoveLine — are a part of Lighthouse Labs’ 12-week accelerator program, which started in March and is being conducted virtually for the first nine weeks. The final weeks will be held in person in Richmond.
Briana Williams, the founder and CEO of ingredient-conscious lip care brand LipLoveLine, said the program has her focused on laying the groundwork to successfully grow her business.
“It’s been slowing me down and saying: ‘Hey, you need to get these things in order because that will ultimately create a better foundation for you moving forward,’” she said. “It’s giving me an understanding of what opportunities I might say yes to if it speaks to my brand and what I am trying to do in the future.”
She said she’s funded the company, which she founded in 2020, in part through $15,000 in Kickstarter donations. She declined to discuss revenue.
Carly Buxton is the CEO and founder of Nessle, which offers an online platform that connects new and expectant parents with perinatal experts for on-demand virtual care. She’s aiming to launch the business this summer and said she’s focusing her time in the accelerator on developing a market strategy. She said she’s invested a $40,000 equity-free award from a pitch competition and $20,000 of her own money in her startup so far. She declined to comment on revenue.
“Financial planning has been huge for me, as has the construction of financial best practices,” she said. “I’ve been forming a financial model and learning a lot about what that means to me as a business owner. I was initially hesitant to raise funds, but I feel confident about it now and am developing the approach for that too.”
She said she found a rapid Zoom mentor meeting in the accelerator helpful for giving her “a lot of avenues to chase.” She said the program is helping her focus on what’s essential to the business as opposed to running in a bunch of different directions at once.
“The challenge is trying to find the priority for now and focus, and then move on to what's next,” she said.
Hunter Guerin, founder and CEO of Llamawood, an on-demand firewood delivery platform that launched last year with a network of Virginia suppliers, said he entered the program looking for a community of mentors, advisers and other entrepreneurs to share similar work experiences in launching a startup.
“It’s such a great community,” he said. “It has well exceeded any expectations I had coming in, and I'm learning a ton about how to build up an amazing, successful business that can potentially change the lives of its customers, but also change the lives of the people that work in the neighborhood.”
Guerin said Llamawood has not raised any capital and declined to discuss the company’s revenue or profit. He recently added mulch delivery to get some business during warmer months, when demand for firewood is lower. He previously told Richmond Inno the pandemic has driven business to his company, with more people investing in things like fire pits for outside gathering in cold-weather months.
The nine overall companies in the Lighthouse Labs cohort each receive $20,000 in equity-free funding, programing and mentorship. Lighthouse said the companies have access to $1 million in advisory services from the likes of the Global Accelerator Network, Kaleo Legal, Sandbox and Startup Virginia. The companies will also participate in demo-day programs to showcase their offerings to investors, alumni groups and potential customers.
This is the 10th year of the program and Lighthouse Labs said it has worked with 89 companies and more than 160 founders during that span.
