Lighthouse Labs wrapped up its milestone 10th cohort with pitches from each of the participating startups.
This year's cohort included four Richmond-based startups: EDai, Grantable, Team Excel and lokii, as well as Koda Health, of Houston, Texas; Lumify Care, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; HUED, of Washington, D.C.; Interstride, of Austin, Texas; Bold Xchange, of St. Louis, Missouri; and Frameworq, of Birmingham, Alabama.
All 10 teams will receive $20,000 in equity-free funding at the end of the accelerator. To date, Lighthouse Labs has invested $1 million into 62 other early-stage startups over the last nine years.
Ali Greenberg, Lighthouse Labs outreach manager, said 300 people attended the virtual event on Thursday. She said Grantable's pitch won the Mentor Vote and $5,000. Bold Xchange took home two $5,000 prizes for the Founder Vote and Audience Vote. The prize money was provided by longtime partner Capital One.
"We are thrilled to celebrate these 15 founders, who made it through Lighthouse's largest and most competitive application pool yet and our most comprehensive program to date," Greenberg said. "They navigated new babies, cross-country moves, college graduations, law school graduations, and so much more in just three short months — all while testing, iterating and growing their businesses."
Lighthouse Labs Executive Director Erin Powell said each of the participating startups' teams made "incredible progress" over the three-month span.
"From launching products to acquiring first customers to closing funding, each team bounded over hurdles small and large on their way to scaling their startups," she said.
Greenberg also provided updates on what the local participants plan to do next:
- Koda Health is in the process of expanding from Houston, Texas, Richmond. The company will continue to work with the Health Innovation Consortium on pilot viability within the VCU Health System.
- Grantable is conducting user interviews as they work on product development of their grant-writing solution.
- lokii is expanding the number of retailers on its platform locally as its founders make plans to enter new markets beyond Richmond.
- Team Excel plans to launch its new application soon, thanks to help from partners at Capital One who have provided pro-bono technical support and app development.
- EDai will continue to develop its platform and move closer to launch. The founders are busy connecting with business leaders and economic developers who have experience with location decisions.
Applications for Lighthouse Labs' fall 2021 program are open through June 6.