StartUp Rutland

VERMONT STARTUP NEWS #61 has stories on Vermont Startup Accelerators LaunchVT and StartUp Rutland looking for applicants, ZymoChem takes a big step, huge news for University of Vermont and more. #Vermont #startups #business #tech

Had the chance to chat with James Maloney from NBC5 about our gener8tor powered StartUp Rutland accelerator, upcoming programs and some of the incredible founders we’ve supported, featuring Brightwater Tools and Aprexis Health Solutions. Applications for our StartUp Rutland gALPHA program are due by March 31! Apply now - https://lnkd.in/gMyuNxMe via NBC5 Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region

?? BIG NEWS for 2025! ?? Following the success of our inaugural StartUp Rutland Accelerator, I’m beyond excited to announce that we’re expanding our work at StartUp Rutland and gener8tor to bring TWO accelerator programs to Vermont in 2025! ?? Last year, we welcomed five incredible startups from across the country to Rutland, providing them with mentorship, funding, and a platform to scale their businesses. They collectively raised over $600,000+ and pitched to a packed audience at The Paramount Theater. The momentum is undeniable, and we’re ready to take it even further! ?? Introducing Our 2025 Programs: ?? gALPHA StartUp Rutland (April 3 - May 1) – A 4-week, idea-to-prototype workshop-based accelerator designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs validate their ideas, build and scale their startups in Rutland, VT. Open to Vermont based founders. ?? gBETA StartUp Rutland (Fall 2025) – A 7-week accelerator for early-stage high-growth startups looking to scale quickly and connect with top investors, mentors, and partners. Open to founders nationwide. ?? Applications for gALPHA are NOW OPEN! Apply at: https://lnkd.in/esD3ze-t If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or mentor looking to get involved—let’s talk! Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region

Applications for our Spring gAlpha accelerator program powered by gener8tor are now open! Application Deadline: March 31 Program Kickoff: April 3 Apply now - https://lnkd.in/eeJjhApv

Applications for our Spring gAlpha accelerator program powered by gener8tor are now open! Application Deadline: March 31 Program Kickoff: April 3 Apply now - https://lnkd.in/eeJjhApv

Quick Q4 2024 Recap: ? Boston Consulate Event I had the honor of speaking at the Consulate General of Japan in Boston, representing gener8tor at an event hosted by JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization . It was an incredible opportunity to share insights on fostering collaboration between Japanese markets looking to enter US markets and more. Huge thanks to Kevin Kalb and the entire JETRO team for making it all happen! ??? New York Highlights This quarter brought great energy back to NYC! I attended some amazing startup and investor events. Highlights included attending Techstars's Investor Event, T Palmer Agency's Founder Dinner (huge thanks to Thien-Nga Palmer & Jasmine for having me!), Tavern Community Coworking event at Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, the Feedback Loop's pitch event (w/ Sherveen Mashayekhi), being a panelist at a tech pitch roast (Snark Tank) hosted by Elizabeth Swaney OLY (Olympian) & Yorkseed, pitch competition at French Consulate General in New York, and, of course, the amazing Investor Gala hosted by Brett (Bulletpitch!) and Varun. Exciting conversations and collaborations ahead! ?? San Francisco Highlights Our Executives on a Plane trip for gener8tor’s Corporate Innovation Network was an incredible time in San Francisco connecting with our CIN members and partners. Over three days, we visited incredible organizations like Airtable, The Westly Group (Danny Cotter), SOSV(Mohan Iyer), Silicon Foundry (Neal Hansch) at Salesforce HQ, Shuman Mitra from L'Oréal, and my favorite, Berkeley SkyDeck (shoutout to Sanjay Velappan!). The trip highlight for me was a chat with Golden State Warriors Ventures (Ben Draa), featuring a dinner and tour of their world-class stadium and facilities. Lastly, a huge thanks to Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) for the great closing happy hour! Massive thanks to Aidan and the g8 team for an incredible few days. ??? All-In Podcast Live Event Wrapping up Q4, I attended the All-In Podcast Holiday Party in SF — an inspiring mix of insights and entertainment. Listening to industry leaders share their thoughts on tech, venture, and the economy with Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Friedberg, David Sachs, Aaron Levie, & more. Plus, I enjoyed a fun poker session with fellow investors & founders (Eric Zhu and I might need to rethink our investment strategy for the next round! ??). ?? Looking Ahead Here’s to an incredible Q4 and even bigger things in 2025! Stay tuned for exciting news about StartUp Rutland x gener8tor’s 2025 accelerator program schedule for Vermont — (hint: two programs are better than one!) and RDF Ventures update!

RDF Ventures is excited to announce the launch of a $7M early-stage venture capital fund, headquartered in Rutland, VT. This Fund is dedicated to supporting startups emerging from StartUp Rutland's gener8tor powered accelerator cohorts, along with investing in promising entrepreneurs across Vermont. We extend our gratitude to Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) for their confidence, reflected in a contingent allocation of $3.5M in limited partner capital from the Us Treasury Department's SSBCI program. Our thanks also goes to the The Vermont Community Foundation and H. Kenneth Merritt, Jr. for their continued support. More updates to follow soon. Please contact our Founder & GP Mose Cassaro for more details.

What a phenomenal end to our first gener8tor powered StartUp Rutland accelerator, alongside Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region's Annual Meeting! ?? I couldn’t be prouder of our incredible cohort founders who took the stage and showcased the results of their hard work over the past 7-weeks as part of the Startup Rutland accelerator powered by gener8tor. The energy at The Paramount Theater in Rutland, VT was electric, and each team delivered a powerful presentation. A massive thank you to all of our mentors, supporters, and everyone who showed up to cheer on our founders, including representatives from our State Legislature—you helped make this event a success! ?? Your guidance, time, and effort played a critical role in driving these startups forward. Special thanks to Mayor Michael Doenges for the continued support. Special moment for me on stage as well, announcing RDF Ventures, my new early-stage venture fund aimed at supporting more founders like them in Vermont. Huge thanks to Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), The Vermont Community Foundation & H. Kenneth Merritt, Jr. for the support and confidence. More to come soon. ? Grateful to be part of this journey and looking forward to continuing building this vibrant ecosystem. Massive thanks to my team at gener8tor, specially Jake Pollastrini, and my team at CEDRR & The Hub CoWorks, and everyone else who made this program and our pitch event possible. ?? Huge thanks to EastRise Credit Union for presenting a $5,000 audience choice award to Brightwater Tools! Lastly, I'm in Boston speaking at the Consulate General of Japan in Boston with JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization talking about startup and venture ecosystem building, representing gener8tor from Oct 24-25. If you're a founder or VC in town - let's grab coffee! ?? Brightwater Tools (Kim Nace, Jacqueline Gold), Aprexis Health (Rob Squire & Mike Howe), Skingenius (Yuliya P.), Cathoven AI (Erdi Tac)

Quick September Recap: ? We officially kicked off our StartUp Rutland accelerator program powered by gener8tor with an incredible cohort of startups including Tacitly, Brightwater Tools, Aprexis Health Solutions, Skingenius & Cathoven AI. It's been exciting to get to work together and see the progress they've already made, and I'm grateful to be a small part of their journey. ?? Huge thanks to Carta and Ryan O'Conor for hosting a fantastic workshop that brought so much value to our founders on foundational equity and fundraising. ?? Grateful to Google team (Andrea Perdomo & Alex Marcus) for collaborating on another insightful workshop for Google Cloud & Google for Startups. ?? I had a great time speaking on the panel for Founder Institute and the FounderSquare's investor panel at Microsoft, thanks to Silvia Lupu for a great event. It's always inspiring to share insights and connect with so many passionate founders and innovators back home in NYC. Particularly enjoyed connecting and hearing from my fellow panelists Reid Hamilton, Aryuna Merdygeeva & Daniel Nelson. ?? It was great hosting and meeting the Chinese Deputy Consul General and his delegation at The Hub CoWorks. The exchange of ideas was truly inspiring, and I'm looking forward to building stronger ties. ?? Had an amazing experience attending the Kauffman Fellows retreat at the Trapp Family Lodge, hosted by Trevor Barlow and Jenny Barba. The retreat was an inspiring opportunity to connect with fellow investors and leaders in the venture ecosystem. It was great reconnecting with some ecosystem leaders and particularly enjoyed connecting with Dhruv Sehrraa. ?? Lastly, mark your calendars for October 23rd—we’re hosting our Accelerator Demo Day at the Paramount Theater in Rutland, VT from 5-7PM in collaboration with Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region's Annual Meeting. It’s going to be an exciting event where our cohort startups will showcase their progress! Can’t wait to see everyone there!

Our Annual Meeting is October 23 from 5-7 p.m. at The Paramount Theatre in Downtown Rutland! This exciting event will feature a pitch competition between five innovative teams as the culmination of StartUp Rutland's 7-week program. Attendees will select the "Audience Choice Award," in which one team will win $5,000. We hope to see you there!