Startup Monday

How a bustling food truck opened a brick-and-mortar location with help from Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

A local health foods truck opened a brick-and-mortar location this year with help from a small business resource offered by Arlington County.

Health Pub, which offers organic, vegan açai bowls and smoothies, was launched as a food truck in April 2022 by Jan Moyo and Kewan Masoud.

They applied for and were accepted into ReLaunch, a small business grant program managed by Arlington Economic Development that helps entrepreneurs with financial and strategic planning, record keeping, improving branding and increasing their digital presence.

Through the program, the founders got connected with mentor companies and received a new website and consulting services for free. Eligible companies must be located in Arlington, have an up to date Arlington business license and operate in the county within the last month, according to AED’s website. They must also have fewer than 50 employees.

“With BizLaunch, we were looking to get assistance on things we couldn’t do ourselves. Things like setting up your website can set your marketing back and BizLaunch helps with that,” Moyo tells ARLnow. “We always want to utilize all the resources the county offers and BizLaunch was a blessing in that regard.”

Since then, Health Pub has added its first physical location in the food court at Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (1100 S. Hayes Street), and has gone from two to seven employees. Moyo says Arlingtonians love Health Pub’s açai bowls, smoothies and juices.

“In Arlington — being a healthy county — people have really embraced our product and our brand,” Moyo said. “Even our popularity in terms of the calls we get for events, the lines we have whenever we are at an event, has just been amazing and mind-blowing.”

HealthPub’s brick-and-mortar location in Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (via HealthPub/Facebook)

Over the next five years, Health Pub says it plans to open more storefronts and food trucks throughout the D.C. area, and is considering franchising the brand nationally.

Initially, the plan was to franchise just food trucks, but Moyo said he and his business partner found the trucks needed support from brick-and-mortar locations, such as during the winter months, when the food truck does not operate.

“For us to properly franchise, we’re working on our model store and model truck,” Moyo said. “Once we draw the proper plans, that’s when we’ll offer the brand as a franchise to other people.”

While Health Pub is not the only local purveyor of açai bowls, smoothies and juices, Moyo says the food truck distinguishes Health Pub from competitors like South Block.

“We’re are going to be around you in some way,” he said. “We are always a popular option because we’re the healthiest food truck in the DMV area. Any event we go to, we always get long lines and we always are booked throughout the week.”

Once spring arrives next year, folks will be able to find the food truck every Sunday at the Columbia Pike farmers market, every Wednesday at the Rosslyn farmers market, and other locations in Arlington and D.C.

The line to order from local food truck Health Pub when it stopped at the Catholic University of America in D.C. in October (via Health Pub/Facebook)

New county awards program recognizes eight fastest-growing local startups

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

Arlington County held its first-ever awards ceremony last week to honor fast-growing startups headquartered in the county.

The ceremony recognized companies that have experienced substantial growth in revenue, employment and venture capital  — “REV Awards” for short.

“The REV Awards were created to celebrate the innovation and perseverance in Arlington’s business community,” said Michael Stiefvater, the Acting Director of Arlington Economic Development Business Investment Group, in a statement.

Companies were categorized based on their revenue, staff size and fundraising rounds completed to ensure fair matches.

“The eight winning companies exemplify these traits as leaders in their respective industries and we are proud that they call Arlington home,” Stiefvater said.

Awards are handed out at Arlington County’s inaugural REV Awards (courtesy photo)

The winning companies, most of which ARLnow have previously featured, include a number of companies that orbit the Department of Defense and national politics, providing everything from cybersecurity to data analysis to consulting work.

But there are some newer companies that break that mold, founded after the defense department closed dozens of government offices after the 2005 Base Realignment and Closing Act.

Revenue

Employment

Venture Capital

Ballston-based consulting firm Franklin IQ (901 N. Glebe Road)– a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business founded by a former Marine — mostly works with defense industry and federal healthcare clients. During the pandemic, it leaned into its veteran roots and helped about 600 veteran health clinics move their in-person visits online, and provided expertise to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs on PTSD treatment, sexual assault response and prevention and suicide prevention.

For the third consecutive year, Clarendon-based IT company C3 Integrated Solutions (3033 Wilson Blvd) landed on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies, ranking 1,544th in the U.S, 63rd in Virginia and 88th among IT Management companies. It reports a 414% growth over three years, during which time it pivoted temporarily to helping defense contractors comply with new government-issued cybersecurity regulations.

Ballston-based, veteran-owned data intelligence company Black Cape (4075 Wilson Blvd) landed a spot this spring on a five-year, $241.6 million contract to improve how the Department of Defense uses its vast data resources for missions. The company emerged from “stealth mode” in 2019 and, based on its revenue growth since then, is the sixth fastest-growing company in the D.C. area, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Ballston-based, minority-owned PGLS (1010 N. Glebe Road) provides multilingual translation, interpretation and language training solutions in over 200 languages and dialects. Nine years after its founding in 2013, the company ranked No. 461 on the Inc. 5000 list, as well as No. 40 in the business products and services industry and No. 14 in Virginia.

Shift5 in Rosslyn (1100 Wilson Blvd) has rapidly amassed $70 million in funding over the last 12 months to hire staff, expand its headquarters and develop its products. The company appointed its first Chief Financial Officer, Robert Sison, in October, and in June, it was recognized for its high sales rate and commitment to the public sector. The company has been sounding the alarm on rising cybersecurity threats to the nation’s planes and trains.

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Software development startup Cosmonic announces $8.5M in seed funding

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

Cosmonic, a software startup founded by a Cherrydale resident, just announced $8.5 million in seed funding.

The company provides developers with tools and services that make it easier for them to build software applications in the cloud — like Amazon’s AWS or Microsoft’s Azure — rather than building such applications in traditional data centers and then retrofitting them for the cloud.

“We are on a mission to bring back joy to the art of developing cloud-native software,” said co-founder and CEO Liam Randall in a press release.

Over the last decade, many companies have transitioned from running their software applications using in-house hardware to running them on “cloud” servers accessed via the internet. But Randall said this transition has mired software development in complexities, which has slowed down innovation.

So Cosmonic’s tools make it easier to build software applications on a “cloud-native” platform, which requires no hardware, needs 95% less coding and is more secure, he says.

Randall tells ARLnow he got the idea to found the company after he helped build this new platform while working as the vice president of innovation for Capital One in Tysons.

“Capital One was wonderful because it gave me insight into the complexities of operating thousands of applications over long periods — and we built an open-source platform called wasmCloud to help solve those,” he said.

Cosmonic logo (courtesy photo)

Relying on that experience, he said in the press release that Cosmonic’s tools will change how applications are developed, deployed and managed.

“The funding will enable us to support developers working in early-stage, rapid and interactive environments — allowing them to transform applications from napkin sketch to scale in minutes,” he said in the statement. “Future releases will offer the advantages of high reliability and lower long-term software maintenance costs.”

Randall said he founded the company in 2021, adding that the name refers to how it allows companies to operate in any cloud.

“As it transcends our current method of deploying applications into a single cloud, we wanted to convey the vastness of space — Cosmonic was designed around quickly enabling secure distributed software,” he said.

Currently, the startup employs 10 people full time and has a dozen part time employees. Randall says he intends to hire more people over the next few months as the product goes to market.

Randall has worked in the D.C. area for many years. Before working at Capital One, he founded a company, Critical Stack, which he later sold to the financial firm, which is headquartered in Tysons.

When he’s not starting companies, Randall says he can be found with his wife and three kids enjoying the Custis Trail.

South Arlington engineer reinvents his career, starting a company that cuts and sells gems

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

South Arlington resident Ricardo Buitrago brings an engineer’s eye to the delicate work of cutting and setting gemstones.

Trained as a mechanical engineer in Colombia, Buitrago worked with solar panels, and later glass and cars. He left all that behind and immigrated to Boston, without any knowledge of English.

Like many immigrants, he took hard jobs to learn the language and make ends meet. After 10 years, he moved to Arlington, where he has built a life with his wife and daughter over the last decade, and earned his master’s from George Washington University in systems engineering and computer science.

But Buitrago’s real love has always been energy production, and his white whale, a perpetual motion machine. These passions have taken him far from mechanical engineering and into the brilliant and — in his words — spiritual realm of gems. His deep fascination with their colors and the energy they produced compelled him to learn how to hew their rough exteriors; today, he sells jewelry made from gems he cut and fit into settings through a business called GalaxyGems.

“It was kind of a hobby at the beginning,” he said. “I was trying to make something beautiful for my daughter and wife. Later, as the pieces were getting more beautiful, we thought, ‘Maybe we can sell them as jewelry.'”

Ricardo Buitrago hand-cutting gemstones (courtesy photo)

He got his start watching videos and reading books and taught himself how to cut gemstones. He bought a cheap mechanism that he tinkered with until it could be used to make precise cuts into gems, saving himself between $6,000 and $9,000 on machinery. Everything for the company he and his wife did in-house, including videos for the website.

Like engineering, cutting gemstones gives him the satisfaction of turning a vision for a product into a real thing to enjoy.

“Every stone is a different product,” he said. “It gives us so much pleasure to start with something rough and make it something marvelous… It takes a lot of effort [to create] something that is so brilliant and perfect, in some way.”

In the near future, Buitrago says he’ll start designing his own settings and experiencing with alternatives to sterling silver settings and chains, such as wood or plastic.

“The idea is to make the whole product very original… something that is a trademark — to make a difference in the market,” he said.

What brings him the most pleasure, however, is when people move beyond the beauty of the stone, and talk to him about their power and properties.

“It’s rare to find someone like that,” he said.

Although GalaxyGems is a full-time job, Buitrago still finds some spare moments to tinker with designs for a gem-powered perpetual motion machine.

“People don’t understand how energy comes from stone and how that can translate to energy that helps us move things, but I think there is a path,” he said.

Zero-waste delivery startup expanding reach in Arlington after $38M in new funding

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

A startup that bills itself as a “modern-day milkman” is deepening its reach in Arlington after securing $38 million in new funding.

The Rounds delivers home essentials, like cleaning supplies, and goods from local companies such as D.C.-based Compass Coffee and Seylou Bakery, in reusable or sustainable packaging. On the same day of each week, members swap their empty containers for replenished products.

After launching in Philadelphia in 2019, The Rounds expanded into D.C., Virginia and Miami over the last year. Today, it serves about 10,000 members, according to a blog post announcing the funding.

The Rounds will be expanding its reach first via pick-up at two locations in Arlington: Compass Coffee in Rosslyn (1201 Wilson Blvd) and Movement Crystal City (1235 S. Clark Street). Pick-up is also available from Alexandria’s Sportrock Climbing Centers (5308 Eisenhower Ave).

“Pickup locations are usually what we start out with in new zip codes where we’re still building up a Member base and setting up our refillment centers in that location, so we usually lean on them as we’re getting set up and then transition to at-door delivery when we can support it,” says Nikhita Prasanna, the chief of staff at The Rounds.

The Rounds is now offering a pick-up option for Arlington residents living in the 22202, 22211, 22213, 22214, 22203, 22204, 22205 and 22206 zip codes, Prasanna says. For now, it’s only delivering to residents in the 22201, 22207 and 22203 zip codes.

As for why The Rounds has chosen climbing gyms, she says that is because a lot of its target audience climbs recreationally.

“When we started doing events at climbing gyms, we noticed that people were super excited about The Rounds and regularly came to the climbing gym as part of their weekly routine,” she tells ARLnow. “So, we worked with our climbing gym partners to set up pickup spots so that when Members come to do their climbing, they can also get refilled. We’re not limited to climbing gyms as the only pick-up spots, but we’ve found that the climbing community tends to be mission-aligned and excited about our service.”

The chief of staff said her team hopes to begin at-door deliveries in these eight Arlington zip codes next year.

That effort could get a boost from an upcoming zoning change. Arlington County may soon allow micro-fulfillment centers as an alternative use for vacant office units, as a way to bring down its 20.8% office vacancy rate and meet an increasing delivery demand.

While Prasanna couldn’t speak to the work the operations team may be doing on this locally, she said that is likely “something we’re exploring to allow us to better serve Arlington residents.”

Meanwhile, The Rounds is looking for more apartment buildings with which to partner.

“We already work with a number building partners in Arlington, and we’re looking to expand partnerships,” she said. “If any reader is excited about our concept and lives in a building they think would be willing to partner, we would love any leads. We’re actively working on building partnerships right now.”

The startup is also planning to use the funding to improve the technology it uses to predict when customers need refills, or its “Psychic Home Manager.”

“We’re able to use technology to build a predictive engine that allows us to anticipate what you need before you run out,” said co-founder Alex Torrey in a statement.

Additionally, The Rounds announced that it is partnering with a tech startup started by General Motors, called BrightDrop, to test out delivery via electric vehicles.

The funding — led by private equity company Redpoint Ventures and venture capital company Andreesen Horowitz — follows a $4 million round of seed funding, per the blog post.

The Rounds co-founders, Alex Torrey and Byungwoo Ko

Crystal City-based lender finds new ways to invest in underserved communities

By Matt Blitz

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated 12:40 p.m. on 10/11/22) If you own a local restaurant, grocery co-op or healthcare clinic in an underinvested neighborhood, there’s a good chance that Arlington-based Capital Impact Partners can help find money to assist your business.

Capital Impact Partners (CIP), which has been in Crystal City for 40 years, is a Community Development Financial Institution aimed at helping lower-income and racially diverse communities secure loans as well as capital and financial assistance.

And this summer, CIP joined forces with lender CDC Small Business Finance and lending software company Ventures Lending Technologies to help clients more effectively. They are together known as Momentus Capital. The new group is already heating up the region’s economy, according to the Washington Business Journal, which named it as an honoree of its 2022 Inno on Fire Awards program.

“Small business owners, developers, and other local leaders are the engines of job creation and economic activity in communities across the country. When these leaders have the opportunity to succeed, their communities, their residents — and our country — thrive,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Momentus Capital, in a statement. “We need bold thinking and a holistic approach to unleash solutions for underestimated communities. Momentus Capital was created to meet that challenge.”

Carr, who led CIP, and Kurt Chilcott, at the time the leader of CDC Small Business Finance and now the chair of both organizations’ boards, began developing the idea for Momentus in 2019. Under the new umbrella organization, the companies will still operate as one, although they will be maintained as separate legal entities, providing but their clients will now have access to more resources and products.

A small food business that Capital Impact Partners helped fund as part of Nourish DC (courtesy of Capital Impact Partners)

For instance, Momentus is developing new lending and investing products aimed at helping people who have historically been denied access to funding. It provides borrowers with training, mentorship and networking opportunities and also provides technical support to community-based organizations and lenders.

This is the kind of work that CIP has been doing since its founding in 1982. Now a national organization, with offices in Oakland, Detroit, Austin and New York, the company got its start in Crystal City, where its headquarters remain at 1400 Crystal Drive.

“We are always thinking about racial equity, the racial wealth gap, what was our role in that as lenders, and how can we create more access to capital in a more holistic way, deep in communities,” says Alison Powers, director of economic opportunities at Capital Impact Partners. “I like to think we’ve been one of the leaders when it comes to thinking about those questions.”

That might mean helping to secure a loan for a family-owned pharmacy in Green Valley or pinpointing a grant that might assist with staffing at a small, immigrant-owned restaurant on Columbia Pike.

Powers said this work reverses exclusionary systems in the U.S., such as redlining, which prevented communities of color and low-income families from getting home loans because their neighborhoods were deemed too risky for investment.

“How we think about credit and risk and underwriting has really been influenced by the history of the U.S. and who is perceived as being good candidates for access to certain financial products,” she says.

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Voice tech conference returns to Crystal City for second year

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated at 2:55 p.m.) A conference highlighting innovations in how people talk to their technology is returning to Crystal City next Monday.

VOICE22 will feature speakers from national and international companies and has backing from big-name tech companies, including Amazon, Google and Salesforce.

The conference is “the world’s largest voice-tech trade event and conference” said Pete Erickson, who founded the Ballston-based startup Modev, which is hosting the event.

“This market is being made before our eyes as people, machines and algorithms are increasingly working in tandem, making Conversational AI a must-have for most consumer-facing organizations,” said Erickson.

Scheduled speakers represent JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, Instacart, Nat Geo, Intuit, Capital One and NPR. The conference will feature panels on customer service, retail, entertainment and publishing, transportation, healthcare, and financial technology.

“Modev is bringing the top brands in the world together to accelerate Conversational AI with our clients, and VOICE22 is the perfect showcase for high-profile key decision-makers, partners and influencers to shape this global market,” Erickson said.

Erickson founded Modev, a Ballston-based startup that also produces the VOICE Global event, presented by Google Assistant, and the award-winning VOICE Talks internet talk show.

North of 600 attendees are expected to attend, but Modev is shooting for 1,000. Attendees represent companies around the world, but a few in attendance hail are regional, including McLean-based Witlingo and Centreville-based XAPP.AI.

The local startup’s conference, now in its fifth year, was held in Arlington for the first time in 2021. The 2018 and 2019 conferences were both held in Newark, New Jersey and together attracted some 7,000 attendees. The conference was held virtually in 2020 due to the pandemic.

This was the first major tech event to relocate to the area since Amazon announced it would build its second headquarters in Pentagon City in 2018, Arlington Economic Development previously said.

VOICE22 kicks off on Monday, Oct. 10 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City (2799 Richmond Hwy) and will run through Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Promotional graphic for the VOICE22 conference in Crystal City (courtesy photo)

Federated Wireless to relocate to Crystal City, bring new 5G capability to the area

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated 11/06/22 at 11:40 p.m.) Ballston-based Federated Wireless is moving its corporate headquarters to Crystal City — and it is bringing 5G connectivity with it.

The move marks the next step developer JBG Smith is taking to turn the area into the world’s first large-scale “Smart City,” with futuristic experiences such as self-driving cars and virtual reality powered by a speedy wireless network.

Federated Wireless, currently located at 4075 Wilson Blvd, will occupy approximately 36,000 square feet of office space at 2121 Crystal Drive, per a press release from property owner and developer JBG Smith.

This building is home to aerospace company Lockheed Martin and a park, as well as a forthcoming restaurant called “Surreal.”

As part of the move, the wireless services company will design, deploy and manage 5G Private Wireless networks for commercial tenants and residents living and working in JBG Smith’s offices and apartments in Pentagon City, Crystal City and Potomac Yard (known collectively as National Landing).

The area is saturated with companies that need what private 5G provides: high-speed data and few communication delays. National Landing’s roster includes Amazon’s second headquarters, Boeing’s recently relocated global headquarters, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus and numerous tech, defense and cybersecurity companies.

“We will be developing a showcase to demonstrate the power and cutting-edge capability that Private Wireless can bring defense contractors, government, retail clients, residential tenants, smart cities, and other customers and citizens in the area,” Federated Wireless Chief Commercial Officer Chris Swan said in a statement.

That could draw more innovative companies to the area, too.

JBG Smith has said its “smart city” would be replete with Internet-connected devices supporting futuristic experiences such as self-driving vehicles, immersive and augmented reality, building automation and environmental sustainability.

2121 Crystal Drive (via Google Maps)

The company already had expansive real estate holdings, from existing office space and apartments to developable land, to realize this goal — but it needed the technology to do so.

Over the last two years, it has assembled the radio frequencies and fiber networks needed to support the vision.

In 2020, JBG purchased seven blocks of Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum from the Federal Communications Commission. In 2021, it announced partnerships with AT&T and Arlington County to bring about ubiquitous indoor and outdoor public 5G in 2021.

And now, Federated Wireless is providing a third piece to the puzzle.

“Cloud, Edge, and [Internet of Things] combined with 5G Private Wireless represent a once in a generation opportunity to transform buildings, cities, and citizens’ experience. The game-changer here is that the 5G Private Wireless network we’re building with JBG Smith is the catalyst that will bring that reality to life in National Landing,” Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi said in a statement.

“Our partnership with JBG Smith is all about enabling shared spectrum solutions to power the next generation of connected businesses, cities and people,” he added.

Local cookie purveyor MOLTN debuts its answer to the PSL

By Jo DeVoe

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

Autumn is upon us and a local cookie company is hoping to mint some pumpkin spiced profits with new seasonal flavors.

MOLTN, a late-night cookie shop operating from a ghost kitchen in Arlington’s Dominion Hills neighborhood, is jumping on the fall flavor hay wagon as it seeks to continue its warm and gooey growth path.

“Regardless of where you fall on the PSL [Pumpkin Spice Latte] debate, we’re pretty sure you’ll love our pumpkin white chocolate pecan cookie, which we just added to the menu this week,” co-owner Neal Miglani said.

The company — which operates from Allspice Catering at 6017 Wilson Blvd — is finalizing recipes for other seasonal menu items, as well as vegan chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies.

The pumpkin white chocolate pecan cookie from MOLTN (via Toast)

He said he will soon be announcing a “top secret” vegan flavor, while year-round ice cream lovers should be able to enjoy shakes and sundaes by October. Ice cream-based desserts items were advertised when the company launched in the spring, but have yet to go on sale.

“We haven’t been able to add the ice cream items to the menu yet because our freezer is still on backorder due to supply chain issues,” the co-owner said. “We’ve got everything ready to go as soon as it gets here, which we hope will happen within the coming weeks.”

Miglani reported that local businesses and the county government have been sweet on MOLTN’s catering arm.

“We… recently delivered 1,000 cookies to 22 of the Arlington County government buildings for their Employee Appreciation Day, which may have been the most fun we’ve had yet with catering orders,” he said.

But the most loyal sweet tooth customer base remains those trolling delivery apps for a comforting late night treat.

“While we see that late-night cookie cravings know no age or gender boundaries, the largest share of our customers are Millennial and Gen Z women,” he said.

And the company’s most popular flavors are the Reese’s peanut butter, s’mores and red velvet varieties.

A 12-pack of MOLTN cookies and its red velvet flavor (courtesy of MOLTN)

To give employees a break, the co-owner did roll back MOLTN’s night-time hours from 2 a.m. on weekends to 1 a.m.

“To be honest, we did this primarily for our team,” Miglani said. “Demand usually starts to drop after the midnight to 1 a.m. window, and we didn’t want to ask people to stay so late when the sales were coming in sporadically.”

Despite one fewer hour of operation, MOLTN has been baking more than 2,000 pounds of cookie dough every month “right out of the gate,” he said.

“We’re really lucky to be a part of the amazing community in Arlington, from the customers who have been so supportive since we opened to our all-star team of employees who make the job fun and easy,” Miglani said.

Crystal City-based startup OxiWear hopes to start selling its ear-worn alert system next month

By Matt Blitz

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

Arlington-based oxygen-monitoring tech startup OxiWear is aiming to go to market by the end of next month.

After raising $1.25 million last year, OxiWear founder Shavini Fernando told ARLnow that they are now in midst of testing in order to start selling the small, ear-worn blood oxygen alert system by late October. The hope is to, at least initially, appeal to the fitness and exercise market.

After that, the aim is to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the device for prescriptions by mid-2023 and for off-the-shelf retail by the end of next year.

That would cap the Rosslyn resident’s five-year journey to offer a device that has saved her life to others.

For years, even though she was a swimmer and lived an active lifestyle, Fernando struggled to breathe. Doctors in her native Sri Lanka said she had asthma, but after a particularly troubling episode in 2015 when her face turned blue, she was diagnosed with severe cardiovascular disease and told that she had two years to live.

Fernando flew to the United States for a second opinion. Getting off the plane, she suffered a stroke. Soon, it was discovered she suffered from severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to Eisenmenger Syndrome. Meaning, there’s a hole in her heart that can lead to cardiac arrests and hypoxia strokes.

“With that, it damages my lungs due to the overflow of blood to the lungs,” she said. “It’s called Eisenmenger when it comes to that stage and it’s irreversible.”

 

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Fernando has had to deal with near-fatal situations, including four cardiac arrests and two strokes. She is also not allowed to fly above certain altitudes, meaning she hasn’t been able to fly home to Sri Lanka since leaving in 2015.

While there’s no cure for Eisenmenger, Fernando thought there might be a way that she could monitor her oxygen levels in order to prevent potentially fatal consequences. In 2015, she started working on a wearable device that would alert people like her when their oxygen levels drop to dangerous levels.

“Once we get a cardiac arrest, you only have three minutes. That’s not enough time to call 911. That’s where OxiWear comes in. You get the alert ahead of time before you go into cardiac arrest or have a stroke,” she said.

It does that by being attached to the ear and pulsating when the wearer’s oxygen levels dip below a certain level. The ear is one of the best and most accurate body parts for measuring oxygen, Fernando said.

Additionally, the device connects to a mobile application that allows the user to keep an eye on their levels at all times. If they do drop dangerously, it will buzz the device as well which will send out an alert to emergency contacts.

“In case you can’t call for help, someone will know you need help,” Fernando said.

Beyond medical necessities, OxiWear is also being marketed to high-performing athletes.

Oxygen levels, even more than heart rate, can give a sense of how fatigued an athlete might be or how well they are adapting to certain environments. Earlier this year, OxiWear signed an agreement with a company that does high-altitude obstacle courses and endurance races.

“It gives the coach an idea of an athlete’s… tolerance level and how long they can stay the course. And, also, how they behave in different environments,” she said.

This is one of the reasons why Ted Leonsis — local owner of the Capitals, Wizards and Mystics — has been such an advocate of OxiWear and Fernando, with not just financial investment but mentorship as well.

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The new Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies includes 25 from Arlington

By Matt Blitz

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn. 

(Updated, 8/31/22) Twenty-five Arlington-based companies are on this year’s Inc. 5000 list, an annual barometer of the country’s fastest-growing companies.

Among them are a Clarendon-based digital media company, a restaurant management software company on Fairfax Drive, and a food tech start-up in Ballston.

The highest-ranked Arlington company at No. 461 is Piedmont Global Language Solutions, which specializes in translation, interpretation, and language training. The company’s headquarters is located in Ballston on N. Glebe Road.

The median growth over the last year for the local companies is 256%.

The 23 companies with local ties on the latest Inc. 5000 list are fewer in number than in previous years. In 2021, 30 Arlington companies graced that year’s list while there were 30 in 2020 and 34 in 2019. Just under half of the companies (11) on the 2022 list were also on the 2021 list.

While looking through the list, a few trends emerge. Most of the local companies are headquartered in Clarendon or Ballston. Many are software or tech-based that count the federal government as a major client. At least a couple were founded by first-generation Americans and a few were at one time featured by ARLnow.

Here’s a list of all the Arlington-based companies included on this year’s Inc. 5000 list:

  • 1,218, HUNGRY, 534% — A food tech start-up that connects companies and consumers with local chefs, food trucks, and restaurants. It has a number of celebrity investors and is based in Ballston.
  • 1,219, SweatWorks, 533% — A software company that helps engineer and design fitness products. It’s headquartered in Ballston.
  • 1,321, Grey Market Labs, 494% — A software company with the “mission to protect life online.” The company is headquartered in Clarendon.
  • 1,486, Kasma, 432% — A compensation software management system that provides employee pay data from across the globe.
  • 1,544, C3 Integrated Solutions, 414% — An IT service that secures clients with cloud-based tech and is located on Wilson Blvd in Clarendon.
  • 1,651, DonorBureau, 378% — A software analytics company helps organizations better fundraise and get donor support.
  • 1,879, Blake Willson Group, 323% — A veteran-owned business that provides “technology solutions” to the federal government.
  • 2,148, Competitive Innovations, 276% — A government service company that’s based on N. Glebe Road in Buckingham.
  • 2,227, Axios, 264% — A Clarendon-based digital media company that covers national as well as local news often with short, punchy articles.
  • 2,294, ITC Defense Corp., 256% — A tech-based global defense business that specializes in system engineering. It has an office in Crystal City.
  • 2,296, Fors Marsh Group, 255% — Conducts market research to help companies with customer service. It’s in Ballston.
  • 2,450, PhoenixTeam, 236% — A mortgage technology firm on N. Glebe Road in Ballston.
  • 3,092, iTechAG, 174% — A tech firm that helps organizations “streamline their operations to achieve better, faster and more predictable results.” It’s in Clarendon.
  • 3,094, Association Analytics, 174% — A data analytics company in Rosslyn that helps organizations operate more efficiently.
  • 3,292, Web Development Group, 161% — An advertising and marketing company that builds websites. It’s based in Clarendon.
  • 3,364, Ostendio, 156% — A digital platform company in Rosslyn that automates security.
  • 3,422, Nuvitek, 153% — An engineering firm that provides automation and cloud services to government agencies. It was on last year’s list as well and based in Rosslyn.
  • 3,541, Changeis, 146% — The Rosslyn-based company works with federal agencies in “emerging technologies.
  • 4,020, 540.co, 120% — As the company describes itself on its website “we are a forward-thinking company that the Federal Government turns to in order to…#GetShitDone.” It’s based in Crystal City.
  • 4,199, Quantum Search Partners, 111% — A recruiting company for cybersecurity, tech, data, and architecture sectors with an office in Clarendon.
  • 4,353, DWBH, 103% — A veteran-owned company that offers subject matter expertise “in support of mission-critical functions.”
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