Following the success of its gBETA accelerator program last fall, StartUp Rutland—an initiative of the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region—launched a four-week sprint this spring unlike any other: the gALPHA accelerator, powered by gener8tor, a global accelerator and venture capital fund. Designed for aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage founders, the intensive program brought together 24 participants across 18 startups for a crash course in ideation, validation, and early product development.
gALPHA is completely free and requires no equity from its founders. Instead, it focuses on rapid execution and deep mentorship, empowering founders to go from idea to Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or pivot their existing business model through a structured blend of customer discovery, product development, pitch refinement and much more.
Participants came from across the Northeast—14 of them from Vermont and New Hampshire, with the rest dialing in from New York, Massachusetts, and even California and Florida. Despite the geographic diversity, one thing united them all: the drive to solve meaningful problems with innovative solutions.
The cohort featured both first-time builders and experienced founders testing ideas or making strategic pivots. A few Rutland-based startups stood out:
Thicket Adventure: A plus-size outdoor clothing startup with strong existing traction that reduced customer acquisition costs by 50% in the program.
Bow Wow Babysitters: A highly successful local and mobile adventure doggy daycare that explored expansion, conducted pricing analysis, and evaluated a potential franchising model.
Autism Advocacy & Intervention: A successful business empowering autistic individuals and ABA professionals across California, Georgia, and Vermont, headquartered in Rutland. Their team explored offering AI-powered tools to reduce costs and generate video content to support families of children with autism by improving client outcomes.
These local ventures were joined by other founders from across the country, working on everything from healthcare automation and AI referral engines to social media platforms, medium-term rental platforms, and more. Together, they formed a dynamic cohort that reflected both the promise and diversity of the broader entrepreneurial landscape—and their national participation served as a strong testament to the program’s reach in major tech hubs.
In addition, three founders entered with a different or without a clear business idea and, through the program, developed new, aligned ventures based on their strengths and interests.
Over the course of four weeks, founders participated in 103 one-on-one mentor meetings, more than 100 customer discovery interviews, and six core workshops developed and delivered in-house by StartUp Rutland. These included Lean Canvas Development, Markets and Competitor Analysis, How to Pitch to Investors, and even a hands-on Minimum Viable Product (MVP) design session on how to build a mobile app and website in under 60 minutes.
gALPHA also brought in outside experts. Google for Startups team led a go-to-market strategy and founder resources info session, while Carta delivered the most-requested session on startup equity and cap tables.
The program culminated in a final pitch showcase on Thursday, May 1, at The HubCoWorks, where each team had the opportunity to share its progress with a room full of community leaders, investors, and mentors. For some, it was their first pitch. For others, it was a testing ground for future funding conversations.
The quality of ideas and execution on display left many in the audience buzzing about the future of innovation in Vermont. Beyond the structured programming, StartUp Rutland was designed to support local economic growth. Founders received free coworking space at the Hub CoWorks, access to business support services, and tailored guidance from both local mentors and nationally recognized startup leaders.
“This cohort moved fast—we saw new products launched, cost reductions, pilots secured, and business models pivoted in just four weeks,” said Mose Cassaro, director of venture capital at StartUp Rutland. “Local founders were collaborating with peers from New Hampshire, New York, and Boston—exactly the kind of energy that pushes ideas forward and puts Rutland on the map.”
The results are already showing. Two startups are launching pilot programs with regional partners, one team is cutting customer acquisition costs by 50%, and eight new product features were rolled out. Several teams are now exploring fundraising or hiring local talent to scale or refine their models—and they continue to receive one-on-one support from StartUp Rutland.
“As Rutland positions itself as a rising hub for entrepreneurship, programs like StartUp Rutland are creating the infrastructure, network, and belief system to continue to make that vision a reality,” said Lyle Jepson, executive director of the Chamber & Economic Development of the Rutland Region (CEDRR).
“It’s one thing to say you support startups—it’s another to build the infrastructure, pipeline and support system that actually gets them from 0 to 1,” said Cassaro. “That’s what we’re doing here. And this is still just the beginning.”
