SOCIAL networking and e-commerce app LUHU has signed on the dotted line, confirming its partnership with Silicon Valley venture capitalist (VC) firm, Plug and Play Tech Center.

After eight weeks of participation in the TBR LAB start-up accelerator programme, 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 organisational partnerships”. He believes his involvement in the programme 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 programmes 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, and 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 before becoming household names.

Hewitt also noted that with Plug and Play leading the current round of funding, his start-up 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 start-up anticipates increased funding and strategic support as the platform gains more traction.

“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 organisation 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,” said TBR LAB co-founder, Kirk-Anthony Hamilton.