Small Towns, Big Ideas
Join us live at the Hanover Inn at Dartmouth College for the 5th Annual Small Towns, Big Ideas Pitch Event — where rural founders compete for $10,000 and the future of small-town innovation.
Five startups. One stage. A $10,000 prize on the line.
Now in its fifth year, Small Towns, Big Ideas celebrates the vision and creativity of rural entrepreneurs from CORI’s Rural Innovation Network. These founders are proving that innovation can happen anywhere — and you can watch it unfold live in Hanover, NH.
In partnership with the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth, 5 top tech startups from CORI’s Rural Innovation Network will compete live for a $10,000 cash prize.
After the pitches, join us for a lively reception with food, drinks, and conversation among founders, investors, and changemakers.
Join us to Cheer on Rural Innovation
November 5, 2025 | 5 to 7 p.m. ET
Live from the Hanover Inn at Dartmouth College or via Virtual Livestream
Register to Attend
-
Experience the thrill of live pitches as rural founders compete for the $10,000 prize.
-
Network with entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators shaping the future of small towns.
-
Celebrate with a post-event reception featuring snacks and an open bar.
-
Be part of the moment — where rural innovation shines.
Spotlighting the Next Wave of Rural Tech Founders
Watch five visionary rural startups pitch their ideas to a panel of top investors and compete for a $10,000 prize.
These founders are creating new jobs, building tech-enabled businesses, strengthening their communities, and redefining what’s possible in rural America.
Small Towns, Big Ideas provides them with a forum to share their work with a national audience and showcases what rural founders can do when given the spotlight.
Meet this Year's Startups
We are thrilled to introduce the 2025 Finalists — the innovators representing small towns across the country.
WholeNote
Paducah, Kentucky
A platform that enables independent musicians to manage rights, royalties, and promotion in one place.
Authsnap, Inc.
Marquette, Michigan
AI-powered SaaS that automates insurance denial appeals, cutting hospital admin time from hours to minutes.
Ludare
Portsmouth, Ohio
An indie-focused game subscription service enabling developers to validate games early in development.
Capnesity
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
A platform delivering ICU-level respiratory monitoring through an intelligent wireless wearable for real-time care.
RespexTech
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
An AI communication platform that doesn’t just facilitate conversations—it measures them to help build respect.
Join us to cheer on these rural innovators!
Keynote Speaker
During the judges’ deliberation, attendees will enjoy a fireside chat with Bill Veghte, Founder and Managing Partner at Athene Partners, moderated by Melissa Merkel-Dallaryan, CORI’s Impact Investing Manager. In this candid conversation, Bill will share lessons from building and backing high-growth companies, exploring what it takes for founders in small towns to scale, access capital, and lead with purpose. It’s a unique opportunity to gain insights from one of the most experienced voices in entrepreneurship and innovation.
Bill Veghte is a builder and transformer of software companies with three decades of leadership across every stage of growth — from founding and early product-market fit to complex global scale. As the Founder and Managing Partner of Athene Partners, he works alongside CEOs and founding teams to turn ambitious ideas into scalable, enduring businesses. Through Athene, he has partnered with companies including Veeam, MURAL, Qualified Health, TrueDot, and Nametag, helping them refine products, strengthen go-to-market strategies, and build high-performing teams.
He has led and contributed to products and businesses used by billions of people and millions of companies. His roles have spanned nearly every function and level: from engineering and product to GTM, from frontline operator to executive. He has worked inside Fortune 10 companies and at the earliest stages of startups, through waves of technological and organizational change. His track record spans leading Windows 7 at Microsoft, returning HP’s Enterprise Group to growth, and helping companies like MURAL scale from under $1M to over $100M ARR, and guiding outcomes such as Turbonomic’s $2B acquisition by IBM and Venafi’s $1.15B sale to Thoma Bravo.
Melissa serves as the Impact Investing Manager for the Green Mountain Accelerator Fund and the Green Mountain Launchpad, where she helps drive early-stage investment into rural tech startups across Vermont. She works to mobilize public and private capital, provide strategic support to founders, and strengthen networks between entrepreneurs, investors, and local business leaders.
Meet the Judges
Judges represent top venture capitalists from across the country who understand talent exists outside of typical geographies.
Jay Bockhaus is the Chief Investment Officer for the CORI Innovation Fund, which identifies, funds, and supports the best and most innovative rural tech entrepreneurs to enhance economic growth and tech job creation in small communities across the U.S. From Wall Street to Main Street, Jay brings a wealth of experience to the panel, having held roles at Gleacher & Co., Allen & Company, NBCUniversal, and Emigrant Bank.
Janice St. Onge is the President of the Flexible Capital Fund, L3C (“Flex Fund”). Named among the 25 Transformative Funds of 2021, the Flex Fund is a mission-based investment fund providing flexible capital in the form of revenue-based financing to New England’s food system, forestry, and clean tech businesses. Janice brings economic and business development as well as financial expertise to the panel, having served in the technology, financial services, higher education, and state government sectors.
Matt Rightmire is a venture partner with Building Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in companies that are reshaping the way we design, build, operate, and experience our built environment. Matt has been working with early-stage companies as an investor or an active part of the management team for more than 30 years.
Vincent Berk is a technologist, AI expert, and exited founder. He is a Partner at Apprentis Ventures, focused on AI/ML, cyber, and platforms. He holds a Ph.D. in artificial intelligence and machine learning from Leiden University and co-founded the cybersecurity company FlowTraq, which was acquired by Riverbed. He is an animated thought leader, startup investor, board member, blogger, and public speaker.
Past Judges
Past judges have included:
- Alex Benik, Encoded Ventures
- Jay Bockhaus, CORI Innovation Fund
- Amy Butte, Navan
- Stacey Giard, Tola Capital
- Mark Hardie, Tuck School of Business, Center for Private Equity and Venture Capital
- Ayush Jain and Jamie Rodota, Revolution Fund
- Chloe Kinderman, Titletown Tech
- Julie Penner, New Frontier Capital
- Kim Rosenfield, Dartmouth Technology Transfer Office
- Louisa Schibli, RuralWorks Partners
Joining Us in Person? Here's What You Need to Know:
We can’t wait to see you in Hanover! Here’s everything you need to know to plan your visit. This year Small Towns, Big Ideas is taking place at the Hanover Inn, located on Dartmouth College campus.
📍Location
- Hanover Inn | Hayward Room
- 2 East Wheelock Street, Hanover, NH 03755
- Enter the hotel and follow the signs to the Hayward Room.
🚗 Parking:
Street parking is available, but it tends to fill up quickly. The Hanover Parking Garage is a five-minute walk away. Please contact the Front Desk at the Hanover Inn for valet parking and accessible transportation.
- Hanover Parking Garage
🥂 Networking Reception:
Be sure to stay after the event and join us for a networking reception to celebrate the winning startup and chat with the founders, judges, and other changemakers in attendance. There will be complimentary snacks and an open bar.
What to Expect
Each year, Small Towns, Big Ideas brings together the best of rural entrepreneurship — bold founders, real impact, and big dreams. This year, five new startups will take the stage to share how they’re shaping the future of rural innovation.
Last year, Catie McVey, founder of North Carolina-based OsRostrum Inc., took home the grand prize. Drawing on Catie’s deep connection to the dairy industry and knowledge of the emerging AI technologies, OsRostrum provides a low-cost mobile platform for farmers to quantify structural traits and develop precision breeding plans that improve cow health and longevity.
Want to see what it’s all about? Watch last year’s winning pitch below.
Watch Catie’s Pitch
Watch Last Year’s Full Event
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.
