About

ABOUT US

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund re-launched the Forest Business Accelerator to provide forest business startups and seed stage businesses with a comprehensive commercialization curriculum and connections to industry experts, customers, suppliers, partners, pilots and investors.

The Forest Business Accelerator is a competitively-selected four-month program open to U.S.-based companies, especially those located in New England.

How it works

Kickoff: 2 Days

3 Sprints: 3-4 Days each

4-5 Webinars: 2 Hours each

1:1 Coaching & Mentorship

Focus Areas

The program focuses on supporting start-up and seed stage businesses with products or services related to one or more of the following areas:
  • Products that use chips, dust, resins, shavings or other forest byproducts.
  • Wood based technologies to create e.g. new materials, chemicals, bio-based products, structures.
  • Products that make use of underutilized species (e.g., poplar, birch).
  • Technology that improves forest industry operations, production, automation, sales throughout the supply chain, or forest management. This includes software offerings that make use of AI and other technologies to provide previously unavailable services to the forest industry.
  • Products or services that increase the use of wood heat or energy or improve its efficiency, either through new or improved fuels or heat or energy systems.

accelerator highlights

  • A two-day kickoff and three 3–4-day sprints. Two of the sprints are in-person in Vermont.
  • Individualized coaching with program facilitators, mentors and industry experts.
  • Topical webinars with industry experts, entrepreneurs, and national businesses that relate to the challenge statement of this year’s program.
  • Weekly assignments and access to ecosVC’s platform and content.

accelerator requirements

  • Commit two senior team members to consistently participate in the full program.
  • Pre-seed or seed stage company. Either pre-revenue or early-stage venture with initial revenue.

About the Accelerator
The program is managed by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund and Vermont State University and facilitated by ecosVC. The program uses ecosVC’s Lens of the Market Accelerated curriculum, designed to accelerate science and engineering-based startups from research to market.

The Forest Business Accelerator is made possible by a Forest Economy grant awarded to Vermont State University by the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC). The NBRC grant also supports a Northern Forest Innovation Hub and Pilot Program.

Thanks to generous support from our funders, the Forest Business Accelerator is free to participating companies and provides companies financial support for two trips to Vermont (including a travel stipend) and food and lodging.

Final Award
Active engagement and peer-mentoring by participants is an essential part of this accelerator, and a final award of $15,000 is provided to a peer-selected company.

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