About Lighthouse Network

Lighthouse Network got its start in 2012 as one of Virginia's earliest startup accelerators, and one of the state's first nonprofit, no-equity models. From the beginning, the idea was simple: walk alongside founders instead of extracting from them.

For over a decade, we built our track record running cohort-based accelerator programming, helping founders in the Richmond area, and eventually across Virginia, get access to the mentors, structure, and support they needed to build something real.

Along the way, we learned what we actually do. We're not just an accelerator. We're a founder development organization. We sit at the intersection of mentorship, community, and personal growth, focused on the whole person, not just the pitch. The work matters. So does the person doing it. We invest in the lives of founders, not just their companies.

In 2025, we rebranded from Lighthouse Labs to Lighthouse Network. It wasn't a name change. It was a formal commitment to something we'd been building toward for years: long-term, human-centered founder development. Not a cohort and done. A relationship for life.

Thirteen years in, that commitment has a track record behind it: 153+ companies supported, 18 exits, and more than $500 million in capital raised by our founders. And a name that finally matches what we've become: a living, interconnected ecosystem of founders, operators, and investors building for the long term. Investing in the lives of founders, thirteen years and counting.