In 2021, the number of venture capital investments in Vermont more than doubled from the previous decade while investment dollars soared due to large funding rounds in Beta Air and Polly. The average size of funding rounds increased as well, though most deals were still under $1 million. Consumer/food/beverage startups received the most funding. The growth of the Vermont VC ecosystem is expected to continue with more active investment firms and increasing amounts of capital available to entrepreneurs.

1. Vermont Private Investment Landscape 2021
Cairn G. Cross, Co-founder FreshTracks Capital
www.linkedin.com/in/cairncross
@vtcairncross
3/31/2022
Number of Investments Increased, While Investment Dollars Soared Year-Over-Year

2. FreshTracks Has Been Active in the Local Ecosystem for
more than 2 Decades
• Formed in 2000
• Investing from our 5th
fund
• Completed
investments in ~50
Vermont companies

3. Agenda
• 2021 U.S. Venture Capital Markets
o Source: Q4 2021 Pitchbook/NVCA Venture Capital Monitor
• 2021 Vermont Venture Capital Data
o SEC Form D Filings and Reg CF Filings, proprietary data
• Notable Trends in the VT Ecosystem
• Post COVID Vermont thoughts

4. 2021 U.S Venture Capital Trends:
Total Value Up, Deal Count Up

5. 2021 U.S. VC Investments:
Almost Half are $1MM - $10MM
19%
34%
47%

6. Agenda
• 2021 U.S. Venture Capital Markets
o Source: Q4 2021 Pitchbook/NVCA Venture Capital Monitor
• 2021 Vermont Venture Capital Data
o Source: SEC Reg D and Reg CF filings plus proprietary data
• Notable Trends in the VT Ecosystem
• Post COVID Vermont thoughts

7. VT VC Deals Completed more than doubled over past
decade, Investment Dollars Soared in 2021
• Steady upward trend in number of investment transactions
• Massive 2021 dollar increase due to 9-figure investment rounds at Beta Air and Polly
• FreshTracks participated in approximately 32% of the 2021 investment transactions
$0
$100,000,000
$200,000,000
$300,000,000
$400,000,000
$500,000,000
$600,000,000
$700,000,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Private Investment Dollars
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
No. of VT VC Deals Completed

8. VT Average Deal Size Soared due to Beta and Polly
• Each bar shown is a 3 year
rolling average to smooth
data.
• Despite the “smoothing”
the effect of Beta and Polly
is clear.
$0
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
$5,000,000
$6,000,000
$7,000,000
$8,000,000
$9,000,000
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Average Investment Size Per Company

9. Removing 5 Largest VT transactions (>$10MM),
Average Size of Rounds is Still Growing
Smaller Seed rounds ($0 to
$1MM) increased on average
by more than $150K
$0
$100,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000
2020 2021
$243,000 $418,000
Average Size of Rounds < $1MM
Early Stage rounds ($1MM+
to $10MM) increased on
average more by than $800K
$0
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
2020 2021
$2,454,000 $3,292,000
Average Size of Rounds $1MM to
$10MM

10. 91% of Total Dollars Allocated Went to 3 VT
Companies
• 91% of dollars went to 3 larger
companies via 5 separate
growth financing transactions
(Beta, Polly, SuperPlastic)
• 8% of dollars went to early/mid
stage investments in growing
companies (financings of
$1MM+ to $10MM)
• 1% of dollars went seed stage
investments in startups & small
companies (financings up to
$1MM)

11. Half of the Vermont Private Investment Transactions
were less than $1MM
39.5%
The larger transactions are generally
preferred stock (except two bridge
loans which converted into equity
prior to year-end)
19 transactions Were $1MM or Less
• 10 Preferred Stock
• 6 convertible debt
• 2 SAFE
• 1 Common Stock
50%
10.5%

12. Consumer / Food / Bev Was the
Most Active Category in VT
• 35 transactions used Reg D (sale of equity
or debt without the need to register with
the SEC)
• 3 transactions used Reg CF (Crowdfunding).
All were Consumer companies: Piecemeal
Pies, Shacksbury Cider & Tost
Consumer / Food / Beverage / Adult Bev 8
Aerospace 7
MarTech 4
InsurTech 3
EdTech 3
Media 2
Medical Technology / Health 2
Energy Tech 2
AgTech 1
Other 6
Total 38

13. Number of Investors in Each Round and Average
Investment Size per Investor Generally Increasing
Round Size Average Investors
Required
Average Check Size
Per Investor
$0 to $1MM 5 $80K**
$1MM - $10MM 11* $310K
$10MM and up 41 $3.5MM
* Same as 2020
** less than 2020

14. Percentage Increase in Vermont VC Investment
Outpaced the rest of the U.S. During the Pandemic
• Largely due to
Polly & Beta
• But still impressive
to see the increase
in Vermont VC
funding by dollars
since the start of
the pandemic

15. Agenda
• 2021 U.S. Venture Capital Markets
o Source: Q4 2021 Pitchbook/NVCA Venture Capital Monitor
• 2021 Vermont Venture Capital Data
o SEC Reg D and Reg CF filings, proprietary data
• Notable Trends in the VT Ecosystem
• Post COVID Vermont thoughts

16. Investments of Note (Reg D offerings) –
Polly & Beta Technologies
F/K/A DealerPolicy (Insurance Technology) Beta Air (EVTOL aircraft)

17. Notable Exits
Acquired by
Acquired by
Acquired by

18. Traction in Vermont Industries of Note
Marketing Technology (MarTech) Aerospace

19. Active VT-Based Investment Firms & Syndicates
•J.H. Capital (family office)
•VT Seed Capital Fund (VCET)
•VSJF Flexible Capital Fund
•FreshTracks Capital
•North Country Angels

20. Shameless
Promotion –
Thanks to CB
Insights
FreshTracks
remains the most
active VC in VT

21. Agenda
• 2020 U.S. Venture Capital Markets
o Source: Q4 2020 Pitchbook/NVCA Venture Capital Monitor
• 2020 Vermont Venture Capital Data
o Source: 2010 – 2019 data from NVCA Pitchbook
o Source: H1 2020 NVCA Pitchbook Data, plus Reg D and Reg CF filings
• Notable Trends in the VT Ecosystem
• Post COVID Vermont thoughts

22. Final Thoughts: Vermont VC
Ecosystem Continues to Strengthen
• Solid increase in number of financings during past
decade. Trend expected to continue. 50+
transactions annually by 2025?.
• Annual $ invested
sometimes
skewed by large
deals. 2021 fits
this profile.
• Syndicates broadening and deepening.
Provides healthy competition for deals
and increases access to capital.
Multiple entry points for
entrepreneurs.

23. Final Thoughts: Supply of VT Venture Capital
Continues to Come Online
• Expect that by mid-2023 there should be
$50MM+ early stage “dry powder” capital
held by active Vermont Based investment
groups waiting to be deployed.
• Continued inflow of Non-Vermont capital for many
financings (example: Polly and Beta).
S/B excellent time to raise
money for entrepreneurs
Footnote: Subsequent to
compiling this report we learned
of another Vermont based
company which raised $6.2MM
during 2021 and which has
has not been reflected