A record number of companies filed to start a business last year, but what does that mean? Plus: More money for rural startups, unemployment issues and the latest labor law poll tally
venture capital
What’s Working: People with a felony record are getting more opportunities from Colorado employers
Workers with a felony in their past could really use Honest Jobs. Plus: Denver’s slowing inflation rate puts it among “least rising” in U.S., fraud updates and more!
What’s Working: Colorado is expected to follow the U.S. economy’s slight 3rd quarter growth
Despite inflation, job and income growth provided a needed nudge. Plus: The politics of inflation, the state’s VC arm adds its first Black founder-led fund, and more.
Denver Startup Week highlights underrepresented founders while looking for the next big thing
A diverse group of entrepreneurs talk about the difficulties of being a startup trying to attract attention and funding.
What’s Working: Here’s how Colorado plans to dole out $104.7 million to small businesses
Colorado’s unemployment rate fell for the sixth straight month to 3.3% in July, the lowest (again) since the pandemic began but not quite down to its pre-pandemic low of 2.8%. However, a state economist thinks we’ll get back to that low rate, despite talk of recession, by the end of the year. But first, last […]
What happened when a bright star in Denver’s startup scene started to fade
This week, Liz Polizzi Oertle handed over her baby to another female founder. Not her real babies. Her kids are 8 and 10 now. It’s her other baby, her startup Nanno, which she cofounded in 2016 when her children “were tiny and I really needed babysitting,” said Polizzi Oertle, whose company provided vetted babysitters on […]
How Colorado startups attracted $6.8 billion in venture investments last year
When 2-year-old Project Canary started out for a second round of funding, the startup was inundated by investors wanting to get in on the Denver company’s potential growth. CEO Chris Romer credits the $111 million funding tsunami to the convergence of four massive waves. First, its core business helps oil and gas companies better collect […]
What’s Working: Follow the money to find where more Colorado jobs are
If you hear about a company that has raised a bunch of money from investors, be on the lookout for lots of job openings. That’s the case at tech-climate startup Project Canary, which recently announced it raised $111 million from investors. It was the second round of investment (its first round last year was much […]
Two Western Slope startups sell to public companies, signaling investor interest in rural entrepreneurs
Two Western Slope startups sold to industry heavyweights this month, reflecting a win for rural entrepreneurs who have been championing Colorado’s nascent rural startup ecosystem beyond Denver and Boulder. This week, Eagle e-bike pioneer QuietKat sold to outdoor conglomerate Vista Outdoor Inc., which owns brands like CamelBak, Bell, Giro and Camp Chef. Vista Outdoor […]
Opinion: A startup investor on how the Rocky Mountain West’s small towns are well equipped to embrace the future of Main Street
Walking down Main Street of any small town in the Rocky Mountain West, you’ll find the quaint storefronts, cafés and watering holes you expect. Uber and Lyft are hard to come by. DoorDash is foreign. Nothing “disrupts” small-town life, besides a snowstorm. Our Main Street businesses and their staff members are still the soul of […]