Startup Virginia plays a vital role in the innovation ecosystem in Central Virginia. Located in Shockoe Bottom in Richmond, the nonprofit occupies three levels of the 1717 Innovation Center. It offers founders and startups mentorship and office space. Over the last four years, members of the organization have raised $115 million.
Executive Director Richard Wintsch sees the development of a startup community as the organization’s most important role. He recently chatted with Richmond Inno about his background and the state of the startup community in the region.
Tell me a little about your background. I am originally from Geneva, Switzerland. I came to America when I was young to play golf. I really enjoyed it. I ended up graduating from James Madison University. That was where I met my wife. I went back to Geneva and worked for the private bank JPMorgan for five years. My wife joined me for the last year of that. It had been a long-distance relationship until then. We got married in Switzerland and moved to Richmond. She is from here and wanted to make a life here. We have been here for 20 years.
You worked at ChamberRVA before Startup Virginia. What was that like? I spent 14 years at the chamber, and it was where I was introduced to workforce development and the nonprofit world. I learned a lot about small businesses and the power of connectivity. The power of relationship building. I focused heavily on leadership programs. I helped start programs like HYPE (a leadership program for young professionals), but a lot of my time was spent with chamber intercity visits, where they take a couple of hundred business leaders to different cities every year. I ran that for about eight years.
What did you learn visiting cities across the county? Being from another country and new to America, it was amazing to explore different cities and bring business leaders. That is really what introduced me to the power of an innovation center. We visited quite a few of them like American Underground in Durham, North Carolina, and the Capital Factory in Austin, Texas. We also visited the San Diego entrepreneurial ecosystem. We went up to Boston. When I was presented with the opportunity to do that in Richmond, I jumped at the chance.
What is the history of Startup Virginia? It was founded in 2016 by Brad Cummings, Will Loving and Bryan Bostic. They started a local angel group called CVA Angels. They got to know the startup entrepreneurs well. They started asking what are some of the things we can do to grow the entrepreneurial community in Richmond. Of course, funding was the top on the list, but the idea of having a space where they could work together was one that came out loud and clear. They bought the building at 1717 East Carry St. The idea was to have an incubator on the first floor and then lease out the rest of the floors to partly fund the incubator. They presented the idea of renting space to Capital One, and Capital One came back and offered to buy the building. Capital One wanted to elevate the game and make the building a bit more of an attraction in Richmond. They redeveloped it into an innovation hub.
How has Startup Virginia evolved since its early days? Startup Virginia moved into the 1717 Innovation Center as the lead tenant. We fill the first three floors of the building and have a coworking space, office space and common areas. I would first say that the pandemic really impacted us, but I think over time it has become a real community. I think it has become a good front door for entrepreneurship, and that is something that we continue to work on every single day. I think this is even more important now that the Metropolitan Business League has moved in.
How do you try to help founders? When someone reaches out to us, we try to understand their needs and connect them with resources. If we can’t help, we will try to find someone who can. If, for example, it’s an exciting idea from an entrepreneur that can scale, we might point them to our resource, but if it is a better fit for another organization in Richmond, we will pass it on.
What are your feelings about some of the success stories that have come out of Startup Virginia? I really like to consider everyone we work with a success story. That is whether they are a success or failure. It’s all entrepreneurs that are trying to make their dream a reality. I like to think they are all great stories. We are trying to build a great community, because if an entrepreneur’s idea doesn’t work out, that person can be a great resource for someone else. It’s not about supporting individuals and their business needs and more about growing a community.
It does seem like the startup community has grown in recent years. Do you agree? I would say that is true. I think people like Larkin Garbee and Todd Nuckols deserve a lot of credit. I think Activation Capital deserves a lot of credit. I think over the last 10 years there has been some really good momentum that has led us to where we are today. We have some great established startup companies that are really doing some great things. Our job is to continue to support them and help build future ones up.
What do you think about the climate for access to capital in Central Virginia? If you look at our members over the last four years, they have raised over $115 million. They are definitely raising capital. The amount of local capital is perhaps not as high as we would like to see. I think it is a real area of opportunity. We need to educate accredited investors about this asset class and attract more venture capital funds to the Richmond region. There is probably a time when companies need to start looking for investors outside Virginia when they get larger, but we want to continue to grow our angel and early stage investor pool.
If I was trying to start a company, what advice would you give? I would say get help and find resources. I would need to know if your idea is something that can scale. You need to make sure your idea is valid and sustainable and one that is worth pursuing based on customer research. We have the Idea Factory program that helps people develop ideas. We have seen a lot of success from that program. It’s an eight-week customer discovery program. We are not the only one. Other groups can help you validate your idea. If you are looking to start a more traditional business, there are resources for that. There are businesses in Richmond that help you write a business plan and make sure you are in a good position before you launch it.
