Deadline: 7 June 2025
The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund has re-launched the Forest Business Accelerator Program 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 accelerator is for startups and seed stage businesses making use of low-grade material or underutilized species for a wide array of advanced wood-based bioproducts such as packaging, biochar, biofuels or advanced building materials, or developing precision forest management technologies that improve forest or supply chain operations or infrastructure.
Challenge Statement
- In 2025, they are seeking 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, for example 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.
Benefits
- Connections
- Connections to industry experts and mentors in the forest and wood products value chain to gain insight and guidance on the forest products market for your company and connections to suppliers and customers.
- Curriculum
- A rigorous commercialization Lens of the Market® ACCELERATED curriculum developed by their program partner, ecosVC, that provides companies with expert advice and a process to build a market validated business case, business model, and go-to-market plan.
- Collaboration
- A hybrid program with both virtual and in-person components that provides financial support for participant travel and lodging for two trips to Vermont to connect in-person with other cohort participants, coaches, and industry professionals.
Eligibility Criteria
- Looking for companies:
- in Mapping Analytics, Mapping Data, Forest Planting Management, Wood Export, Forest Inventory, Wood Products, Wood Industry
- located in North America
- incorporated
- prototype, users or paying users stage
- Angel, Pre-seed, Seed or Series A
- $100k-$2.5m in funding
- currently raising or not raising funds
- have revenue or not
For more information, visit Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund.
