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On a recent rainy Wednesday, around a dozen Richmonders participated in a speed dating-style event downtown. The goal? Not a second date, but scoring some investor capital. 

Northern Virginia-based nonprofit The Capital Collective took to the Commonwealth Club to host the culminating event in its Beyond the Million program, which aims to help owners of small and midsized businesses grow their companies and find investors. 

The Sept. 17 event hosted 10 capital providers from around the U.S., who met with the Richmond-area business owners and heard pitch presentations from the owners. 

The pitches capped the intensive 12-week Beyond the Million program, which is funded by Capital One and began in May with programming such as creating an investor pitch deck and help from industry professionals on developing financial models. Participants also could receive help covering costs of up to six months of third-party accounting and due diligence materials. 

With this being the first Capital Collective intensive hosted in Richmond, criteria required applicants to be located in the greater Richmond area, profitable with over $500,000 and less than $2 million in annual sales, and in a non-tech related industry.

The local business that participated in the intensive were: construction company River City Enterprises; pie shop Proper Pie Co.; construction company CESA Solutions; bridal shop Blue Sage Bridal; wine wholesaler and importer Shoe Crazy Wine; equipment manufacturer HUB Pattern Corporation; mover Quality Moving Services; tire shop Git the Trucking Commercial Tires; language translation service Syncroz Language Solutions; mental health service A New Legacy Family Services; and Fredericksburg-based Signature Event Rentals.

The Capital Collective was founded last year by Emily Halpern and Tamika Tyson, who each have around 25 years of experience in the investment and transaction sectors and are also co-founders of growth equity firm TGC Impact. 

Ten capital providers from four states and several regions across the state were present at last week’s event, including SouthState Bank, Philadelphia-based Innovate Capital Growth Fund, and Fulton Bank, among others. 

Tyson said at the event that the Capital Collective worked with each business owner to understand both their financials and the “story” around each of the businesses in preparation for pitching to investors. 

“And then, how do we help them get over the nerves of then telling your story,” Tyson said. “And they’ve done that, they’ve risen to the occasion.” 

As for the participants, even those who are longtime owners said they have gotten some new ideas from the program. Husband-and-wife duo Neil Smith and Nikki Price, owners of Proper Pie Co. in Church Hill, told BizSense that exploring possibilities in terms of finances and scaling their business during the program has been helpful. 

“We have been in business for 13 years … we want to do it smartly and this whole program, I’ve said the entire time, even if nothing comes out of it, we’ve learned a ton, we’ve met some really awesome people and gotten our brains moving again,” Price said. 

“We know there are better ways to sell pies, to get them more out in the world,” Smith said. “It’s making our dreams reality.” 

Another program participant, trucking tire shop GTT Commercial Tires co-owner Kamard Johnson, told BizSense that the education given in the program has been helpful for speaking with “more precision” around what matters to investors. GTT is based at 3405 Commerce Road in South Richmond and has two other locations in Petersburg and Portsmouth. 

“It has been homework providing documentation synthesizing your thoughts on what your capital story is, what is your company story, what is your growth story … how you tell it matters, and the placement of when it’s told matters,” Johnson said. 

As for the capital providers, Le’Jean Thompson of Founders First Capital Partners, one of the investors present at the matchmaking event, said that entrepreneurship can be a “gladiator sport,” and that he was excited to participate in an event with diversity in the type of businesses represented.

Founders First Capital Partners also participated in The Capital Collective’s test-run beta program, which took place last year in Birmingham, Alabama. That program, called Beyond the Middle, targeted businesses with up to $10 million in annual revenue. 

“How do we connect and be where the action is … these are the pathways forward to being able to get access to capital,” Thompson said. “Those rich conversations, that’s where we want to be.” 

Beyond the Million executive director Jill Donaldson said that, as of Sept. 25, all 11 participating businesses have received at least five “matches” with capital providers, with each match being a capital provider that has requested additional meetings toward the due diligence process. 

She added that some of the 11 businesses have received 10 capital “matches,” and that further meetings between program participants and capital providers are currently underway. 

Each of the 12 Birmingham-local businesses that participated in the Capital Collective’s beta program received a capital offer by the end, Donaldson said back in May. Tyson said she expects similar success in Richmond. 

“Since our program ended in Alabama … I think there’s been 19 or 20 jobs added, I think about $4 or $5 million in capital has been deployed, and then we’ve got several more millions in due diligence,” Tyson said. “So, that’s the goal.” 

Halpern said Capital Collective plans to host other, similar programs in other U.S. cities after the Richmond session, noting that the program could return to Richmond as well. Tyson said the next location will be announced soon. 

“For what we are offering, there’s no reason why this cannot be offered in every city around the country,” Halpern said. “Every city, no matter what size, has small businesses that are in the missing middle.” 

Capital Collective has a team of four. While the Richmond-based “Beyond the Million” program is funded by Capital One, Capital Collective has worked with a variety of funders. Its Birmingham program was funded by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Fortune 500 companies, regional banks and local community organizations.