Startups

Debbie Irwin is Lighthouse Labs’ fourth managing director in as many years. The group has just begun its 17th accelerator session since its launch 12 years ago.

George Inge has been thinking about launching an online specialty grocery store for three decades. “I kept watching and monitoring. To get back in one day was my dream,” he said.

Weeks after its CEO’s resignation, the independent state authority has selected a new temporary chief with ties to Gov. Youngkin and a construction background.

A company involved in making the Richmond region a hub for pharmaceutical manufacturing is in fundraising mode after it began operations at a Petersburg production facility last year.

Starting with a makeshift aquarium in a kiddie pool when he was a child, Kole Elkin now runs Kole Tang Aquatics providing commercial and residential aquarium services and fish care advice.

“With the aging of the population, our services are needed everywhere,” said founder Paige Wilson. “And our goal is to be nationwide.”

Activation Capital is launching the Frontier BioHealth program for up to 10 startups from August to November to groom life sciences companies in the area for the long term. 

The push to make the company’s leafy greens available across Food Lion’s entire footprint of 1,100 stores in the Mid-Atlantic and South comes as it plans for a $25 million expansion at its West Creek indoor farming facility.

Looking to jumpstart its growth, the company that connects moms with personal assistants to help handle errands and parenting tasks, has expanded into Northern Virginia.

Scott’s Addition-based Babylon Micro-Farms recently unveiled The STEM Garden, a hydroponic device used to grow vegetables indoors and geared toward classroom instruction.