Lawmakers Strike Deal on Huge Housing Infrastructure Bill
Lawmakers Debate Competing Needs for Housing, School Funding
Preppi Market and Eatery Opens to the Public at Hula in Burlington
New England Ski Museum hosts Spirit of Skiing Award celebration, DesLauriers honored
Beta Technologies, Signature Aviation to Install Electric Aircraft Chargers at 3 Airports
Electric Planes, Once a Fantasy, Start to Take to the Skies
Consortium with UVM, GlobalFoundries Wins Recognition as Tech Hub
The Great Tech Migration
Champlain College and Hula pair up to develop a new generation of entrepreneurs
The Pentagon, In A Tech War With China, Is Moving Toward Fielding Its First Electric Aircraft
Climate Change From A TO Z
Bristow Signs Order of up to 55 BETA Technologies ALIA-250 eVTOL Aircraft
An electric aircraft just completed a journey of 1,403 miles
10 Cities That Could Be Climate Havens in the U.S.
The Battery That Flies
A new aircraft being built in Vermont has no need for jet fuel. It can take off and land without a runway. Amazon and the Air Force are both betting on it. So who will be in the cockpit?
Investment in Vermont Companies Soared Nearly 500 Percent Last Year
Investment in Vermont companies soared nearly 500 percent last year, mostly due to massive capital infusions at the electric-aviation company Beta Technologies and Williston-based Polly, formerly known as DealerPolicy.
Benchmark to triple production capacity to meet demand
Satellite propulsion startup Benchmark Space Systems announced plans April 5 to triple production capacity to meet growing demand for its Starling and Halcyon propulsion systems. Over the next 18 months, Burlington, Vermont-based Benchmark plans to produce more than 150 propulsion systems for government and commercial satellites destined for low Earth, geostationary and cislunar orbit.
From ovens to palm trees: A tour of Hula's award-winning building on Burlington's lakefront
Surely, there has never been a factory built in a more scenic spot. And now, a new incarnation of the former Blodgett oven facility, called Hula — a sleek co-working campus where tech companies and other startups can blossom in shared office space — has won an award from the Vermont chapter of the American Institute for Architects for the best historic/adaptive reuse of a building.
A Burlington company using AI to predict sepsis faster than hospitals just raised $6 million in seed money
A Burlington start-up using artificial intelligence to predict deadly diseases like sepsis earlier than current methods allow raised $6 million in seed funding, including from prominent investors like a former CEO of IBM.
A Burlington Entrepreneur Plans to Launch an Amazon Rival With a Buy-Local Mission
Bill Calfee had no work experience in the tech sector when he dreamed up Myti. Founded in 2020, the e-commerce platform will soon enable online shoppers to buy from retailers in their own communities and get their products delivered in two days or less. Consumers will have no membership dues, while local retailers — or "shopkeepers," as Calfee calls them — will be charged only a modest transaction fee.
Vermont tech firm believes to experience the metaverse, you have to smell it too
OVR Technology in Burlington has developed a way to incorporate smell into virtual reality. This modern day "Smell-O-Vision" could have far-reaching applications in gaming, health and wellness.
Polly Unveils Innovative New Products and Dealer Programs at NADA 2022
Polly (formerly known as DealerPolicy), the leading insurance marketplace for automotive retail, today announced several new initiatives at the National Automobile Dealers Association Show (NADA) for car buyers and dealers, unveiling new product innovations with One Click, Buy Online, and the Polly for Dealers mobile application.
LaunchVT is accepting applications for its 2022 Accelerator for startups
Beginning in mid-April, selected entrepreneurs will work with a dedicated business coach and strategic advisors to address their most pressing needs, as well as attending workshops over a 10-week program.
Backed by Accel, Minoan Experience is creating a new category of e-commerce called ‘native retail’
Imagine staying at an Airbnb and becoming so attached to a particular chair or tea set that you want to buy it. Instead of asking the property owner where it’s from and tracking it down, Minoan Experience lets you order the product by scanning a QR code. Then it’s delivered to your home in a few days. The “native retail” startup announced today that it has raised $5 million in seed funding led by Accel.
CoreMap raises $23 million to fund AFib mapping development
CoreMap today announced it closed a $20 million Series B financing to accelerate the development of its cardiac arrhythmia diagnostic technology and launch pilot studies.
Resonant Link raises $9.3 million for wireless charging technology
Resonant Link(link is external), a Burlington-based developer of a transformational wireless charging technology for medical devices and electric automotive fleets, has raised a $9.3 million seed round, led by The Engine(link is external), the venture firm spun out of MIT that invests in early-stage Tough Tech companies.
A New Investment Fund Seeks to Spur Vermont's Startups
Announced this week, the Dudley Fund will focus on early and mid-stage Vermont companies that need an initial infusion of about $50,000 to $150,000 in order to grow. The goal is to find and fund entrepreneurs who have demonstrated that they can create jobs and inject money into the state's economy.
A BTV entrepreneur built a website to make sure you pick the right college. Here's why
David Hurwitt was looking for his next challenge after helping NRG Systems in Hinesburg achieve a level of success that led to its sale in 2017 to a St. Louis-based energy company for an undisclosed amount.
Amazon And UPS Are Betting This Electric Aircraft Startup Will Change Shipping
When he played minor league hockey in the early 2000s, Kyle Clark says his teammates would spend the long bus rides talking about the drugs they’d taken last night and who’d brought a hooker into their hotel room. Clark, a bruising 6-foot-6 enforcer, would bury his nose in textbooks on how to build airplanes. Pretty nerdy – but he’d even stood out as an engineering egghead at Harvard, where his hockey teammates had nicknamed him Beta.
Upright Partners with CCV to Launch Tech Careers in Vermont
Innovative workforce retraining and education provider, Upright Education, is excited to announce that it has partnered with the Community College of Vermont to help Vermonters develop the skills they need for careers in tech. Through the unique new partnership, CCV will offer technology bootcamps designed to help adults land their first tech job.
Battery Innovators Make Vermont a Hub in a Surging Industry
Skier, Pilot and Shooting Survivor Manon Belzile Is the 'Motor Ninja' at Beta Technologies
In Manon Belzile's glass-walled office at Beta Technologies, a dry-erase board displays the words: "I don't want to be bothered with limits." The quote, Belzile said, is hers. "Or shoes," she added, glancing begrudgingly at her wizened Blundstones. "I would also rather not be bothered with shoes."
Vermont’s Benchmark Space Systems Makes Satellites More Maneuverable
What goes up must come down — and that can be a problem for companies that rely on satellite-based technology. Burlington-based Benchmark Space Systems has an answer: a propulsion system that allows small satellites to maneuver in orbit and defy the pull of gravity.
Local Employers Recruit and Reconnect — in Person — at the 2021 Vermont Tech Jam
Find a great job, meet collaborators and be inspired at the 2021 Vermont Tech Jam. This annual career and tech expo, powered by Seven Days newspaper, is back — in person, and in Burlington — on Saturday, October 23, at the new Hula lakeside tech campus.
20 Minutes With: 1% for the Planet CEO Kate Williams
Steering the ship is Kate Williams, 54, who began with the organization in 2014 and was promoted to CEO in 2015. She’s overseen tremendous growth through economic and political turbulence and signs of serious global climate change.
DealerPolicy to Expand in Williston With $110 Million Infusion
FreshTracks Capital launches new growth fund to invest in area businesses
FreshTracks Capital has launched a new venture fund designed to help grow business in Vermont. The FreshTracks Growth Fund – the fifth fund in FreshTracks Capital’s family of Vermont-based investment funds – will target investment in approximately 10 growing companies over the next few years.
Benchmark Space Systems unveils in-space mobility-as-a-service business
Satellite propulsion startup Benchmark Space Systems has secured customers for a new ‘mobility-as-a-service’ business, which similar to a taxi ride will charge them based on the amount of propellant they use. Burlington, Vermont-based Benchmark said its in-space mobility service significantly reduces upfront propulsion costs for on-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing (OSAM) ventures with indefinite propulsion needs.
Burlington aerospace startup says Vermont key to company’s growth
A Vermont aerospace business is taking off, but this space tech company says it’s going to keep calling the Green Mountains home. Cat Viglienzoni visited Benchmark Space Systems shortly after their first satellite propulsion systems launched, to see why they say they’re a Vermont success story.
Olive Oil Conquers the Plant-Based Dessert
Wildgood, a new frozen dessert brand from a Greek ice cream specialist, is an airy confection made with extra-virgin olive oil.
Ready for Takeoff: Beta Plans to Manufacture Its Electric Planes at BTV
Electric aviation startup Beta Technologies plans to build a 270,000-square-foot manufacturing plant at the Burlington International Airport that will employ up to 500 people, the company said Tuesday.
The former Blodgett Oven factory is on track to become Vermont's largest campus that cools and heats itself
An ample reservoir beneath the former Blodgett Oven factory in Burlington will likely yield heating and cooling self-sufficiency at an unprecedented scale to the region, experts say.
UPS to buy electric aircraft from pioneering Burlington company
Bottom Line: EZ-Probate Aims to Make the Probate Process Simpler and Cheaper
In May of last year, Byron Batres saw a surge in business at his company, EZ-Probate. Coronavirus-related deaths across the nation had spiked within the previous month. People tasked with settling the estates of those who died, a legal process called probate, flooded his company's website to use its system for completing the required documents more cheaply than they could by hiring an attorney.
Bottom Line: Marina McCoy Used a Pandemic Year to Grow Her Sustainability Business
Last March, Marina McCoy was entering her fifth year in business as a sustainability director for music festivals and other big events, helping organizers reduce the trash they generated. Her company, Waste Free Earth, had contracts worth about $300,000 in the works for the coming year.
Burlington’s Hula Weathers the Pandemic but Faces One Final Permit Challenge
The shores of Lake Champlain may be 5,000 miles and a world away from the Hawaii surf, but Russ Scully envisions his Hula office complex in Burlington as an equally enviable destination for tech-minded companies.
This Maple Syrup Is Our Favorite Fall Condiment
Company pitches rapid COVID-19 test results for businesses
The COVID-19 cases in southern Vermont were first detected by antigen testing. The tests provide rapid results by looking for a specific protein but they may not be as accurate. Still, a local company is working to bring those tests to businesses. Our Cat Viglienzoni went to one of their testing sites to show you how they work.
America’s Biggest Cities Were Already Losing Their Allure. What Happens Next?
Glass Action: A Burlington Startup Aims to Turn Recyclables Into Building Material
Burlington entrepreneur Rob Conboy has high hopes for the object in the palm of his hand. The gray nugget he held on a recent afternoon looked like a stone but weighed no more than a sponge.
Hello, Hula: Can Russ Scully Create a Lakeside Tech Scene?
Front-end loaders and construction workers crisscrossed the cavernous space that was once the factory floor at Blodgett Oven. Standing in the middle, in a hard hat and down jacket, Russ Scully described his vision for the gutted manufacturing plant on the shore of Lake Champlain in Burlington's South End.
Dealer.com founders: How they continue to shape Vermont's economy
The Burlington auto inventory software company was started two decades ago by five friends — Mark Bonfigli, Rick Gibbs, Mike Lane, Ryan Dunn and James LaScolea. Along the way, it hired a number of key employees who were given equity stakes in lieu of big salaries. That turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to them, when the billion-dollar sale of the firm went down in 2014.
Burlington Business Owner Buys Blodgett Oven Property
