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A celebration of the innovation and entrepreneurship happening across rural America

November 13, 2024 | 5 to 7 p.m. ET

In-person: Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH)  |  Online: Virtual livestream

Save your seat

Now in its fourth year, Small Towns, Big Ideas celebrates rural entrepreneurs through a one-of-a-kind pitch event. This year, in partnership with the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth, top tech startups from CORI’s Rural Innovation Network will compete in person for a cash prize.

Small Towns, Big Ideas showcases innovative, investor-ready scalable tech startups from communities in CORI’s Rural Innovation Network. Each startup selected to participate will be pre-seed or seed-stage. They will deliver their pitch in front of a panel of investors who will judge the presentations based on their product, business model, traction, and narrative. The startup that ranks the highest among the panel of investors will be named the winner and receive a $10,000 reward.

Register now!

Putting the spotlight on rural innovators

Rural tech entrepreneurs are drivers of economic growth in their communities but often struggle to access critical investment and support due to their geography. By directing resources to these entrepreneurs, they can build their businesses and bring well-paying jobs to their often overlooked communities.

Small Towns, Big Ideas provides a platform for rural tech startups to pitch investors while fostering networking and collaboration between rural entrepreneurs, investors, and the broader region. It also serves as a vital mechanism for driving economic growth and national attention to rural communities – showcasing that small towns can indeed be home to big ideas, and rural tech startups are worth betting on.

Get ready for this year’s event

Small Towns, Big Ideas: Where are they now?

We’re checking in with four past participants of CORI’s annual pitch event for rural tech startups, Small Towns, Big Ideas, to see how the experience helped them on their entrepreneurship journey.

Past judges

Judges represent top venture capitalists from across the country who understand talent exists outside of typical geographies. Past judges have included: 

  • Alex Benik, Encoded Ventures 
  • Jay Bockhaus, CORI Innovation Fund
  • Amy Butte, Navan
  • Stacey Giard, Tola Capital 
  • Ayush Jain and Jamie Rodota, Revolution Fund
  • Chloe Kinderman, Titletown Tech 
  • Julie Penner, New Frontier Capital

About the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship

The mission of the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship is to serve Dartmouth students, faculty and alumni along all points of the entrepreneurial journey. Originally conceived of in the Provost Division, and as part of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer (OETT), which also includes our Technology Transfer Office (TTO), the Magnuson Center was established in 2018 through a generous gift from Allison and Rick Magnuson ’79, the Center brings together various programs that support entrepreneurship and innovation at Dartmouth and beyond.  By bringing together these diverse resources, the Magnuson Center is able to streamline services and help Dartmouth entrepreneurs thrive.

Thanks to our sponsors

Small Towns, Big Ideas wouldn’t be possible without the support of our generous sponsors. The Center on Rural Innovation is grateful for their commitment to rural entrepreneurs and fostering innovation in rural America.