Above: Zwede Hewitt. Photo courtesy TBR Labs.

After eight weeks of participation in the TBR LAB startup accelerator program, followed by another five weeks in Silicon Valley, LUHU co-founder Zwede Hewitt, received a capital investment valuing the early stage company at US$3 million, bringing him one step closer to taking his company global.

Hewitt initially enrolled in TBR LAB to tap into the regional technology ecosystem’s “amazing perks and highly credible organizational partnerships,” and he believes his involvement in the program prepared LUHU for this investment milestone.

According to Hewitt: “Major VCs such as Plug and Play tend to seek founders with some experience and knowledge. Participating in such programs as TBR mitigates some of the risk when working with early stage founders by helping to solve pain points, and providing access to mentors and strategic partnerships to support scale.”

Hewitt, a Trinidadian, along with his Grenadian-born, Moroccan-based co-founder, Kenroy George, created LUHU (Let Us Help U) to provide a space where people can experience purposeful engagement while shopping online in their community. Now, they hope to follow in the footsteps of brands like PayPal and Dropbox, which also received investments from Plug and Play in their early days, prior to becoming household names.

“Through this partnership, Plug and Play is contributing cash, advisory and strategic partnership services to LUHU’s development, as well as an office in Silicon Valley,” Hewitt told the Trinidad Express in an interview, indicating that the funding had already been allocated with 70 per cent committed to scaling the company, improving its technology, and supporting user-acquisition goals. Twenty per cent will be allocated to operational and legal expenses, with ten per cent being used to market the app.

Hewitt also noted that with Plug and Play leading the current round of funding, his startup has been able to work with the firm’s brainstorming arm and receive critical advice on structuring deals and negotiations. “This was tremendously valuable as there is still a general lack of knowledge as it relates to tech investing in the region,” he said.

With the partnership set to scale in tandem with LUHU’s growth, the startup anticipates increased funding and strategic support as the platform gains more traction.

Senior investment associate at Plug and Play Ventures, Dana Diefendorf, expressed excitement over the partnership with LUHU and was quoted in the Trinidad Express as stating that, “There is a gap in technological solutions to enhance the organic ways people find peers and businesses to interact with, and Zwede and Kenroy are the right founding team to build this marketplace.”

According to TBR LAB cofounder, Kirk-Anthony Hamilton: “This is the kind of funding we need to see in the region. Tech companies are built very differently to traditional companies. This rich valuation for an early stage company arms the organization with fuel they need to get to the next level while leaving significant room for further investment and overall growth.

The fact that an entity with the expertise and experience of Plug and Play has the view that two Caribbean founders are the right people to build a global marketplace, further validates our thesis that great companies can be built in the Caribbean and we wish the LUHU team great success on their journey.”

TBR LAB Director of Accelerator Programs, Eric Sonnier agrees and believes that LUHU “has the ability to be one of the big players internationally.”

Having provided support to Hewitt at various stages of the negotiation process, Sonnier said: “Zwede and his team did an amazing job to get to this point and I’m honoured that he called upon TBR LAB at certain times throughout the process to help him think strategically and position the company for growth and success. It’s encouraging to see someone work hard to achieve their goals, and for that hard work to pay off.”

“We’re excited for the LUHU team and what it means for more early-stage investment dollars to flow into the region. It’s a win for all founders building in the Caribbean.”

With the company already registered in Trinidad & Tobago, as well as incorporated in Michigan in the United States, next on the agenda for Hewitt and his team is incorporating LUHU in Silicon Valley.