Hill Country Venture Fest Locks In Its Full Slate of Gold-Tier Sponsors Ahead of October Pitch Night
With Frontera Healthcare joining Hill Country Telephone Cooperative, Central Texas Electric Cooperative and Texas Regional Bank, the free student pitch festival — 2025's Texas Venture Fest of the Year — heads into its October 1 event at Mason's Odeon Theater with four local businesses backing the stage
Mason, Texas (Newsworthy.ai) Wednesday Aug 26, 2026 @ 7:00 AM EDT
Hill Country Venture Fest 2025
"Every one of these businesses could have put their name on a lot of things this year. They put it on a room full of teenagers with ideas instead. That's the kind of backing this festival was built on." — Katie Milton Jordan, Hill Country Venture Fest organizer
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The Hill Country Venture Fest has confirmed its fourth and newest Gold-tier sponsor, Frontera Healthcare Network, joining Hill Country Telephone Cooperative (HCTC), Central Texas Electric Cooperative (CTEC) and Texas Regional Bank as backers of the festival's October 1, 2026 student pitch night at the Odeon Theater in Mason. Each sponsor contributes at the Gold-tier level, a prestigious $1,000 sponsorship commitment.
The Hill Country Venture Fest — named the 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance — is a free, one-evening event where rural Hill Country students pitch real ideas to real judges. Gold-tier sponsors are among the businesses whose backing keeps the event free for students and families to attend and enter.
This year's Gold sponsor slate also reflects the kind of local infrastructure rural students grow up around and rely on: healthcare, telecommunications, electric service, and banking. Frontera Healthcare Network brings a regional healthcare presence to the sponsor wall, while HCTC, CTEC, and Texas Regional Bank represent services that already touch homes, schools, farms, ranches, and small businesses across the Hill Country.
For the festival, that mix matters. Hill Country Venture Fest is not built as a one-night contest alone; it is designed as a public signal that student ideas belong in the same room as local employers, lenders, co-ops, service providers, families, and community leaders. Sponsor backing helps keep the event free, gives students a real stage, and shows young entrepreneurs that the region's established institutions are paying attention.
"When a bank, a co-op, a telephone company, and now a healthcare group all say yes to the same room of kids, that tells you something about what this community values." - Katie Milton Jordan
More sponsors, at every tier from Community Partner ($250) to Presenting ($2,000), are still being welcomed ahead of the October 1 event. Details are available at hillcountryventurefest.com .
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who are the Hill Country Venture Fest's Gold-tier sponsors?
- Four businesses currently hold Gold-tier ($1,000) sponsorships: [Frontera Healthcare Network](https://www.fronterahcn.org/), [Hill Country Telephone Cooperative](https://hctc.net/), [Central Texas Electric Cooperative](https://www.ctec.coop), and [Texas Regional Bank](https://trb.bank/).
- Has the Hill Country Venture Fest received any awards or recognitions recently?
- Yes, the Hill Country Venture Fest was named the 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance.
- When and where is the next Hill Country Venture Fest taking place?
- The next Hill Country Venture Fest is scheduled for October 1, 2026, at the Odeon Theater in Mason, Texas.
- What is Gold-tier sponsorship?
- It's one of four sponsorship levels for the Hill Country Venture Fest ” Community Partner ($250), Silver ($500), Gold ($1,000), and Presenting ($2,000)” detailed at [hillcountryventurefest.com](https://hillcountryventurefest.com).
- What is the Hill Country Venture Fest?
- A free annual student pitch festival, named 2025 Texas Venture Fest of the Year by the Texas Venture Alliance. It is co-hosted by thetownie.ai and Katie Milton Jordan.
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