2026 Fall ECOSYSTEM BUILDER SUMMIT
Richmond, Virginia
AGENDA | host | TICKETS | TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATIONS
In community
How a community shows up for itself is the most important thing an ecosystem can teach.
Come get a masterclass in love of place.
SCN is evolving. We’re shifting from a model dependent on external funding and corporate sponsorships toward something more radical and more durable: a member-owned, member-driven network where the practitioners who live this work every day are at the center of our sustainability and decision-making.
When members fund the network directly, we answer to you. Not to sponsors with conflicting agendas. We can take risks, explore uncomfortable truths, and create the kind of vulnerable learning spaces that make our Summits transformational rather than transactional.
Fall 2026 is our pilot. We’re designing programming entirely around what you told us you need: deeper peer consultation, skills-based learning tracks, and real-time problem-solving for the challenges keeping you up at night.
We need 35 founding members to prepay for Fall 2026 to prove this model works — and we need your help choosing when. We’re deciding between September 21-24 and September 29-October 1 in Richmond, Virginia. Cast your vote when you grab your founding member ticket.
This is your invitation to join the group of practitioners who believed SCN could evolve from a great network into a sustainable guild that outlasts any individual founder, funding cycle, or economic downturn.
About Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is fiercely local — more local restaurants than chains, more independent stores than franchises, an arts district that grew from the ground up. That's not an accident. It's a value system. And it's the same spirit that built a startup ecosystem rooted in connection and a deep love of place. This is where Lighthouse Network — a nationally recognized accelerator — was founded by an SCN founding member. Where Capital One chose to put down roots and show up. Where CarMax, Dominion Energy, and Genworth were born and scaled. Richmond earns this theme.
This city also has a complicated history. It was the capital of the Confederacy, it built confederate statues along Monument Avenue to intimidate Black residents, and it gerrymandered a neighborhood to contain the Black vote. That neighborhood, Jackson Ward, rose into one of America's great Black Wall Streets, most notably named “The Harlem of the South.” Maggie Walker — the first woman to charter a bank in the United States — built her legacy here. The Hippodrome hosted James Brown and Cab Calloway.
That's the Richmond pattern: pressure met with creativity, resilience, and an unshakeable love of place. You see it in the arts district that is fighting blight on Broad St. You see it in a startup ecosystem that is connected and community-rooted and you see it in homegrown companies like CarMax, Dominion Energy, and Genworth that scaled right here.
“In Community’ is what Richmonders are every day and what summit attendees experience firsthand.
Startup Champions Network Summits
Twice annually, Startup Champion Network members meet in person to connect, share knowledge/experiences, and take a deep, behind-the-scenes dive into the local host ecosystem. This personal interaction is a critical part of the member value proposition as well as an important commitment all members make -- to celebrate each other.
These 2-3 day intimate gatherings bring together the nation's top ecosystem builders and national ecosystem support organizations to convene conversations, gain insight from real-world case studies, and explore and experience new communities against the backdrops of some of the nation's top emerging ecosystems. Summits address topics most relevant to and of interest to members, such as inclusive entrepreneurship, fostering collaboration, engaging and empowering under-represented populations, and more.
What You’ll Experience
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Kickoff the Summit with a Lighthouse Tradition. We’ll convene in a local distillery and mingle with the founders who are shaping Richmond.
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What happens when neighborhoods and businesses come together? We’ll ground you in the history of Jackson Ward, a once thriving Black neighborhood whose businesses and neighbors created the foundation for what the neighborhood is today.
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Walk the Harlem of the South for the history. Meet the movers and shakers who are here now.
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The scrappiest ecosystem-building story you'll hear this year. A community that changed a street just by showing up for each other.
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SCN traditions are here for a reason. Dine with locals and then reconvene to share what keeps you up at night.
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Have you ever heard of Punk Rock Banking? You’re going to meet the financial institution in every community who does the work but is often overlooked.
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Get a firsthand look at what it means to be in “founder development” from Lighthouse Network (formally Lighthouse Labs), a national accelerator with SCN roots.
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Peer-to-peer. No keynotes. Built for the conversations conferences don't have.
We need 35 ecosystem builders to make this real.
We have a location. We have experienced and dedicated SCN members to host. What we don’t have is the normal seed money to kickstart it. Just 35 people who believe in what this community has to teach us. If we hit 35 tickets by June 19th, we go. If we don't, you get a full refund.
Founding tickets · June 19th deadline · Full refund if we don't reach 35
SCN Host Members
Ashley Ray, SCN Communications / Community Builder
Ashley has been the Comms/Marketing/Summit planning support person for SCN since 2018, which means she’s helped plan 13 summits at this point. While she was not born and raised in Richmond, she’s a Richmonder through and through, supporting comms for Lighthouse Network, on the ground as a committee member of the Historic Jackson Ward Association, an active participant in the Arts District Business Alliance, and the Communications lead for Hack for RVA. Many of those roles are unpaid. All of them are important to helping the Richmond ecosystem continue to grow. Ashley lives in Historic Jackson Ward / the Arts District / Downtown (it’s complicated) and is working to help uplift the neighborhood and get more Richmonders to come downtown again. When she’s not doing all that, she’s working on comms for other organizations.
Debbie Irwin, Lighthouse Network / SCN Board
Debbie is a longtime SCN member and current board member who knows a thing or two about Summits. She’s been on the Summit Planning Committee for several, AND she was on of our hosts for the Shenandoah Summit. Debbie now calls Richmond home and is taking our ecosystem to a whole other level as the Executive Director of Lighthouse Network. Debbie’s work is centered on Founder development – meaning support the WHOLE founder, not just launching and accelerating startups.
*Please note that you must purchase each ticket individually, so we can properly collect all attendee data per ticket. Group tickets are for groups of 6.
Founding Member Tickets
Member: $299
Non-Member: $349
Regular Tickets
Member: $399
Non-Member: $449
Last Minute Tickets
Member: $499
Non-Member: $549
GROUP ticket (For up to 6 people)
$2,500
Travel & Accomodations
Lodging
Coming soon but checkout Quirk Hotel, The Graduate, and local airbnbs in Jackson Ward
Getting to Richmond
Richmond International Airport (RIC) is an easy 15 minute drive from Jackson Ward!
Rides & Rooms Spreadsheet
Every Summit, we create a spreadsheet for attendees to coordinate rides and room sharing. If you're looking to share a hotel room or airbnb with a large group, this is a great place to start. If you want to carpool from the airport or hope some kind soul will give you a ride, this is the place to do it! While we don't link this spreadsheet to the public website, it is sent via email upon summit registration.