Two VCU graduates were part of a team of students that developed a prototype for a low-cost operating table designed for use in developing countries. Now they have formed a company, Operation Simple LLC, to continue development and testing of the product for future sale.
Startups
Richmond game company hits bull’s-eye
Richmonder Clay Hilbert’s tabletop parlor game Hookum has taken off since hitting store shelves this year.
The food chain, revised
A Charlottesville startup wants grocery shopping to be a team sport, and the company has expanded here with a handful of partners already signed up.
A new kind of capital fund
There’s a new group of Virginia investors looking to invest as much as $250,000 at a time into growing businesses, and reasons it might succeed where others have failed include a social component and low-pressure requirements for members.
When you want more metal in your socks than a gold toe
A company founded on the therapeutic qualities of copper has created an affiliate company devoted to using copper in hospitals.
Startup sprouts from S&K ruins
Three former S&K Menswear employees are trying to take the S&K model and run it online. They’ve packed a 3,000-square-foot warehouse with men’s dress clothes and invested $150,000 in the startup.
Northside business rocks the world
To thousands of guitar aficionados, Richmond is known as the return address for one of the finest craftsmen in the world. That’s because Lindy Fralin has built a rabid following for his Richmond-made guitar pickups, magnetic and copper wire apparatuses that translates the vibration of metal (the strings) into sound and send it to the amplifier. Fralin’s story is a refreshing lesson for budding entrepreneurs — if you can be the best at whatever it is you enjoy, you can build a thriving business.
Two seniors win $2,000 in UR biz plan contest
UR seniors Daniel Brunt and apartment-mate Christopher Genualdi pitched their business plan to a panel of judges about their concept Sniff-Stick LLC and won $2,000 to get rolling. The three other finalists had some promising ideas, too.
Q&A: In the driver’s seat (a used seat)
Not everyone is hunkering down. EverDrive, a Chesterfield business that serves as the Match.com of used car parts, hired 10 workers in March and is looking to bring on five more. In April, the company is rolling out a new feature that will let any customer in the lower 48 states buy a used engine… Read more »
Surf’s up, couch style
Talk about homestyle. One social networking site is providing travelers with a free alternative to staying in a hotel. That might be why about 10,000 people a week sign up to join CouchSurfing.com. The Couch Surfing Project matches people all over the world who have an extra couch or bed with someone looking for a… Read more »
