Visit Vermont
Words by Ava Stotz
Imagine this: it’s 80 degrees. Beams of sunlight split the clouds and reach down to the open water of Lake Champlain in sheets. The water glistens, spectacular, and you have to shield your eyes, although you want to keep looking straight on. Beyond the sparkle of the lake are layers of rolling mountains, all different shades of blue. Around you, grass and trees are brilliantly green. It’s early evening, but it will be light until 9pm tonight. You’re meeting a friend to go paddle boarding. This is summer in Vermont.
Now, imagine a different scene: It’s 25 degrees. The sun still splits the clouds, but instead of the light shattering onto a rippling surface, it reflects off of a sheet of snow-dusted ice. The mountains beyond are the same blue, but seem muted slightly by the striking azure sky. The trees are bare, limbs coated in snow, so they look like they’ve been drawn into the scene with ink. The ground crunches softly beneath your feet. The sun sets early this evening, but there’s a fire and a comfortable chair waiting for you. This is winter in Vermont.
Fall covers the hills with vibrant color. And spring brings fresh growth and energy after a sleepy winter. But spring isn’t the only time of year that growth happens here in the Green Mountain State. Vermont has become a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The team of The Fund at Hula, along with fellow locally-based venture capital funds and investors, get to watch this action first hand, and see thrilling successes blooming from this small state.
Hula is a coworking facility home to many of the up and coming businesses in Burlington, and a hive of entrepreneurial and startup activity. This is home to The Fund, which not only provides financial support to startups like you might find in Hula, but also networking opportunities to those who come in contact with its team. Being a part of the Hula ecosystem creates an ever-expanding web of connections that The Fund can share, and in turn continue to feed the ecosystem through support of the people and companies that occupy the space. It’s a positive feedback loop. A symbiotic relationship.
These connections extend out beyond Hula into the wider ecosystem of Vermont, which ripples out even more broadly. From Greensea’s robots allowing for ships to travel more efficiently, to Benchmark Space Systems changing the accessibility of outer space, to Beta Technologies taking the world of electric aviation by storm, and on and on. Vermont’s innovators and entrepreneurs create international impact. How, you might wonder, does one insert themselves into this web? Where should you begin? And the simple answer is: Visit Vermont.
If you are interested in connecting with local startups, entrepreneurs, and established companies in Vermont, The Fund at Hula is a powerful resource, and connecting with us is a great first step in planning a productive visit.
Fill out the “Connect” form on our website, https://www.thefundathula.com/connect to initiate planning a meeting with us during your visit.
We also recommend checking out the exciting Vermont-based startups in our Portfolio, https://www.thefundathula.com/portfolio, before you arrive!
A visit to Hula is a great way to immerse yourself in an entrepreneurial and energetic hub in Burlington. You can learn more, and purchase Day Passes on Hula’s website: https://www.hulalakeside.com/leases/full-day-pass.html
January, 2026