Startup Guide: Northern Virginia
Whether you’re one of the 2.5 million people that call Northern Virginia home today, or one of the many moving to the region every single day, or if you’re just interested in learning more about what the buzz is — this guide will help provide a lay of the startup community landscape in the area.
I’ve developed this guide to Northern Virginia in conjunction with the Build In SE team, to help equip startup founders and operators with the resources they need to build their companies.
This guide largely excludes resources in Washington, D.C. proper and Maryland, though lines often blur across the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia). Investors based in the area are active across the Mid-Atlantic, startups in the area serve customers throughout the region (and more broadly), and talent in the area commutes across state/district lines.
If you’re interested in learning more about the region or what we do at Build In SE, or would just like to connect, please reach out to me at ryan@buildinse.com.
Overview
Northern Virginia, commonly known as NOVA, is comprised (approximately) of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, Loudon County, Stafford County, and Prince William County. While the region does operate as a major Washington, D.C. suburb, it is much more than that — NOVA boasts its own incredible culture, history, and of course, economy.
Northern Virginia is nearly a minority-majority area today, and in Fairfax County, nearly one in three residents was born outside of the U.S. When compared to Silicon Valley, women are twice as likely and Black residents are fives times as likely to work in tech. NOVA is one of the most highly educated parts of the country as well, as over half the population has a college degree. Prior to COVID-19, the unemployment rate was below 2%; the median household income is over $110K. The region is highly connected internally with its top-notch highway system and the D.C. area’s Metro subway/light rail, and externally with two world-class airports in Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport. NOVA is home to over 2.5 million people, 11 Fortune 500 companies, and more than 15,600 tech firms — and is continuing to grow, even in the wake of COVID-19.
Northern Virginia Tech Backdrop
While many traditional tech and startup clusters have struggled amidst the pandemic, Northern Virginia has increased its available number of tech jobs — as of April 2020, year-over-year growth of those roles was 47%, and the region has maintained that momentum. Zooming out a bit, the D.C. metro area is the third-largest in the country for tech employment, and was ranked by CBRE as the second-best tech-talent market throughout US and Canada. Part of what draws tech talent to the region is an interest in building more meaningful products and solutions; many NOVA-based companies are working to solve tech problems in a way that will save lives or serve public needs.
Northern Virginia’s strong startup and tech scene is supported by a number of incumbent powers across the aerospace & defense, software and technology industries. Contractor behemoths like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Airbus and Raytheon all have headquarters or major offices in the region. Consultancies and technical service providers like Deloitte, Booz Allen Hamilton and Leidos also call NOVA home. Amazon’s HQ2 in Pentagon City broke ground in early 2020 and is expected to add over 25,000 jobs to the region, while Microsoft, Facebook, and Google are all expanding their presences nearby. And local success stories like low-code leader Appian, which went public in 2017 and has a market cap over $15B today, are contributing to the new tech corridor in NOVA.
The Northern Virginia startup landscape is blossoming today due to a combination of homegrown breakthroughs and promising expansions and relocations. With a diverse set of startups, funders, accelerators and coworking spaces, community organizers, and public initiatives, the future has never looked brighter for NOVA.
Northern Virginia Startups to Watch
As mentioned previously, Northern Virginia is home over 15,600 tech companies, and the region has a flourishing startup scene. We’ve highlighted a handful of companies that have shown exciting traction and have appeared on various “Top Startups” lists.
- Upskill — Upskill was founded in 2010 as APX Labs, and has grown over the years with the increasing popularity of augmented reality. “Upskill provides wearable technology to connect hands-on workers from the factory to the warehouse to the jobsite.” Customers include Boeing, Coca-Cola, and GE — and Upskill has raised over $53M.
- Real Atom — Real Atom is a women-founded, women-led startup based in Tyson’s Corner that helps developers find CRE loans. The company raised a $3.7M seed rounded in 2018 and continues to grow
- WhyHotel — According to Crunchbase, “WhyHotel is an alternative lodging service company that operates pop-up hotels in newly built, luxury apartment buildings. The hotels offer fully furnished apartments that combine the comforts of home, the services of a hotel and the amenities of newly built, luxury apartment buildings. WhyHotel allows multifamily developers to de-risk the lease-up phase of new assets and creates a new revenue stream while serving as an added amenity for residents.” The company has raised almost $34M to date, with their $20B Series B in late 2019
- Hungry — Based in Arlington, VA, Hungry is “a national platform for top chef-made food production & delivery services that also includes business & event catering, contracted meal delivery services, chef-centric pop-ups, virtual chef experiences and home meal delivery”. Their investors include a number of celebrities, like ex-NFL player Ndamukong Suh, comedian and actor Kevin Hart, rapper Jay-Z, and Whole Foods co-founder and co-CEO Walter Robb; Hungry has raised $32.6M to date.
- Federated Wireless — According to Federated, the companies provides innovative cloud-based wireless infrastructure solutions to extend the access of carrier networks. Their unique approach incorporates a neural network of radio sensors allowing interference free access to low-cost, high-quality, licensed spectrum, and their solution breaks down traditional barriers of high cost and exclusive spectrum. The company most recently raised over $65M across their Series C round
- Rize — Rize creates applications to help integrate the disparate financial system, with APIs that support fintechs, incumbents and others with a variety of banking functionalities. Rize raised a $2M seed round in 2018, from funders including Revolution, Alumni Ventures Group and 500 Startups.
- QOMPLX — QOMPLX leverages artificial intelligence and an advanced analytics infrastructure to allow companies to integrate disparate data sources and analyze large amounts of information. The company has clients across in a variety of industries, including cybersecurity, insurance, and quantitative finance. QOMPLX raised a $78.6M Series A in 2019.
Northern Virginia Startup Funders
Firm: Town | Industry | Stage
- Blue Delta Capital Partners: McLean | Federal government services | Growth
- Blu Venture Investors: Vienna | Healthcare, cybersecurity, technology | Seed, Series A
- Capital One Ventures: McLean | Fintech, data and analytics, cybersecurity, enterprise | Agnostic
- CIT GAP Funds: Herndon | Technology, life sciences, cleantech | Seed, Series A
- Columbia Capital: Alexandria | Telecom, media, enterprise | Agnostic
- GP Ventures: Arlington | Enterprise, consumer tech and goods | Seed, Series A
- GroTech Ventures: Vienna | SaaS, internet, enterprise, cybersecurity, fintech | Seed, Series A
- IMS Ventures: Arlington | Healthcare, security, enterprise, commerce | Seed, Series A
- Industry Ventures: Alexandria | Technology | Agnostic
- In-Q-Tel: Arlington | Government, security | Seed
- Lavrock: McLean | Enterprise, data and analytics, cybersecurity | Seed, Series A, Series B
- NaviMed Capital: Rosslyn (Arlington) | Healthcare | Growth
- NAV (New Atlantic Capital): Reston | Healthcare, IT, higher education, commerce, big data, mobile, digital media, cybersecurity | Seed, Series A
- New Dominion Angels: McLean | Enterprise | Seed, Series A
- Proof VC: Reston | Enterprise, security | Agnostic
- QED Investors: Alexandria | Financial services | Seed, Series A, Series B
- Razor’s Edge Ventures: Reston | Security, federal government services, enterprise | Agnostic
- Route 66 Ventures: Alexandria | Fintech, digital health and wellness | Seed, Series A, Series B
- Sands Capital Ventures: Arlington | Life sciences, technology, consumer | Series A, Series B
- Sail Capital Partners: Arlington | Energy, sustainability | Agnostic
- SineWave Ventures: Arlington | Commercial + private sector | Seed, Series A
- SWaN & Legend: Leesburg | Consumer, commerce, lifestyle | Agnostic
- Valhalla Partners: Tysons | Software, media | Agnostic
This list focuses on venture capital firms with headquarters in Northern Virginia. To check out more venture capital firms based throughout the Southeast, check out the 2020 Southeast Capital Landscape built by Embarc Collective and Build In SE.
Northern Virginia Incubators and Accelerators
- The Mason Enterprise Center at George Mason University offers expertise in a variety of capabilities, including “small business services, incubation and acceleration, government contracting, international business, entrepreneurship, technology ventures, and telework initiatives.” The MEC operates across multiple locations in NOVA
- MACH37 is one of the region’s oldest accelerators. The team guides cyber-product companies through their 90-day program focused on product idea validation and relationship development, and has helped launch over 70 companies since 2013
- Topspin Labs offers a unique value proposition, focusing on helping companies spin out developed technologies into new market opportunities
- Springfield’s Community Business Partnership serves as an incubator center for businesses located in Northern Virginia
- NSTXL (National Security Technology Accelerator) unique platform provides end-to-end acquisition services to support government clients, and helps incubate and accelerate companies building technologies that could serve government and military needs
- Startups Ignite is an industry-agnostic accelerator that supports founders with strategy development, market segment-identification, product iteration, revenue model analysis, governance and compliance, and more
- The Tandem Product Academy is a hybrid experiential educational program focused on helping tech-product businesses identify opportunities and scale
Northern Virginia Coworking Spaces
- WeWork: 4 locations (Rosslyn, Ballston, Pentagon City, Tysons)
- Make Offices: 3 locations (Reston, Clarendon, Tysons)
- Spaces: 4 locations (Rosslyn, Alexandria, McLean, Reston)
- Industrious: 5 locations (McLean, Alexandria, Court House, Ballston, TechSpace — Ballston)
- Carr Workplaces: 7 locations (Clarendon, Alexandria — Duke Street, Alexandria — King Street, Alexandria — Old Town, Reston, Rosslyn, Tysons)
- Novel Coworking: Alexandria
- ALX Community: Alexandria
Northern Virginia Community & Event Organizers
- EO At Large — U.S. East (Alexandria) is a global, peer-to-peer network of more than 14,000+ influential business owners with 198 chapters in 61 countries.
- The Northern Virginia Tech Council represents the region’s tech community, and counts over 500 companies among its membership. The Council hosts events, publishes research, and advocates on behalf of tech initiatives in NOVA
Northern Virginia Tech Media
- DC Inno — Focused on the broader DC metropolitan area
- The Nova Business Podcast
Northern Virginia Startup Jobs
Northern Virginia Public Initiatives
- Work in Northern Virginia is hosted by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. The community/resource hosts job posts, centralizes resources for entrepreneurs, provides training and education-related information, and is a one-stop shop for all NOVA business needs
- The Virginia Economic Development Partnership helps businesses find the resources they need to make relocation and expansion successful endeavors. The VEDP outlines key industries and associated support and training, compiles relevant incentives offered by the state, provides resources to assist with site selection, and more.
About your guide
Hi, I’m Ryan! I’m based in the Washington, D.C. metro area and work with Build In SE to increase the number of startup success stores in the Southeast.
Thanks for checking out this guide to the startup scene in Northern Virginia. Learn more about the Build In SE mission on our website, or learn more via our publications on Medium.
If you know of any resources that should be added to this guide, or if you simply want to get in touch, please reach out to me at ryan@buildinse.com!
