LaunchVT provides business acceleration services to cohorts of eight entrepreneurs. All eight members of the cohort receive mentorship specific to the needs of their businesses and participate in office hours, peer strategy sessions, focused trainings, pitch prep workshops, and investor events. Each member of the cohort will leave the accelerator with a refined and polished pitch deck, a Launch Report (executive summary), and extensive connections to local founders, advisors, investors, and service providers.
In selecting our cohort and awarding cash and services, we look for:
Viability: Quality of the product, business model and team
Scalability: Market opportunity and revenue growth potential
Impact: Job creation and positive economic impact on VT
Program overView:
Office Hours
These private networking opportunities connect members of the LaunchVT cohort with over 100 individuals and companies that can help them build their businesses. With time for informal networking and structured conversation, finalists get one-on-one access to one of our greatest community resources - our people.
Workshops
Our workshops are dedicated technical assistance sessions led by content experts and LaunchVT advisors. They provide an opportunity for our entrepreneurs to work strategically on some of the most important aspects of their business with the support of experienced professionals.
peer Sessions
Our peer sessions allow members of the cohort to offer feedback and assistance to each other, an invaluable element of the program. We select eight of the most exciting entrepreneurs in the state and give them plenty of time to share their expertise and collaborate. We also bring in LaunchVT alumni to share their stories and answer questions from the cohort.
Coaching
Members of the cohort are assigned a dedicated coach with industry specific experience. Coaches work with their team on every aspect of their business and provide one on one support as they develop their pitch for Demo Day. Coaches also provide detailed feedback and strategic advice to help their team prepare a polished Launch Report for applying to other accelerators and investment opportunities.
Capital
LaunchVT will invest non-dilutive cash to up to three businesses. Each award is selected by a separate committee during Demo Night. The Investor’s Award is selected by three local investors with experience working with Vermont startups. The Impact award is selected by the LaunchVT Advisory Board and based primarily on criteria focused on the economic impact the business will have in Vermont. The Audience’s Choice Award is selected by the public. Every attendee will receive a token and have the opportunity to cast a vote for their favorite business.
Professional services
Each member of the cohort will be awarded a suite of services from local businesses. LaunchVT partners with local service providers to offer our cohort members access to over $100,000 in marketing, legal, accounting, design, and work space support. Click the link below to check out all of the amazing in-kind service providers supporting our entrepreneurs!
2024 Demo Night Grand Prize Judges:
Chuck Bush
Chuck Bush is a lecturer at the Stiller School of Business, where he teaches entrepreneurship, accounting, and marketing. His classes are informed by his 30 years of professional expertise in finance.
Before joining the Stiller School of Business, Chuck was an Adjunct Professor of Finance and Economics at the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). There he earned the Play Polished Apple teaching award in 2019. Since 2017, Chuck has played a pivotal role in establishing CSUN's Advanced Financial Modeling Boot Camp (AFMBC), a program that has successfully prepared over 100 high-performing graduates for careers in financial services at top-tier institutions.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Chuck remains actively involved in the corporate world through his company, Great Road Capital, Inc. (GRC). Since its inception in 2004, GRC has supported entrepreneurial clients by raising capital and advising on strategic and operational matters. Chuck has also been a full-time and fractional CFO at early-stage companies.
Chuck received an AB in Economics from Harvard College and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Myla Lai-Goldman
Dr. Myla Lai-Goldman is a diagnostics industry veteran, bringing decades of experience in the development and commercialization of impactful clinical assays. Myla spent more than 18 years at Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp), the last 10 years as Executive Vice President, Chief Medical and Chief Scientific Officer. During her tenure at LabCorp, she led all clinical, scientific, and medical activities, including the introduction of more than 400 clinical assays, and led numerous licensing partnerships and acquisitions.
Myla is a co-founder and Chairperson of GeneCentric Therapeutics, a leader in the development and commercialization of biomarkers and companion diagnostics that define cancer drug responders and drive success in drug development. Additionally, she is a venture partner with Hatteras Venture Partners and managing partner of Personalized Science, LLC, a diagnostic consulting company that she founded in 2008.
In addition to GeneCentric, Myla currently serves on the boards of West Pharmaceutical Services, Akoya Biosciences, Mercy BioAnalytics and NovoPath. Board-certified in both anatomic and clinical pathology, she received her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Myla moved to Vermont in 2021 to enjoy a new role, “nana” to twins Maeve and Abram.
Sivan Cotel
Sivan Cotel is a strategic executive and board leader with 15+ years of experience, including a decade+ launching new startups and managing profit/nonprofit governing boards to drive business performance and client service excellence. A Wall Street and startup veteran focused on growing early-stage companies into businesses, he currently offers business strategy and fractional CFO consulting to help companies develop their operational and business planning. Sivan has helped companies in beverage alcohol, manufacturing, consumer product goods, branding & design, healthcare, construction, and other industries.
Sivan was the Co-Founder of Stonecutter Spirits, which was acquired at the end of 2020. He has also previously been the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of WhistlePig Whiskey, and the Chief Financial Officer of Siempre Tequila. Sivan spent the first part of his career on Wall Street at Bear Stearns, J.P.Morgan Chase, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.