Colorado has a rapidly developing and growing startup ecosystem that creates numerous top startups. In the five years between 2015 and 2020, venture capital funding in the state has increased by 86%, highlighting the increasing potential of the ecosystem. There is a wealth of available support for entrepreneurs through networking and mentorship groups coupled with the potential for funding which helps these businesses to grow sustainably.
Colorado is also providing a much more stable ecosystem for startups to grow than even places like Los Angeles, with costs of living decreasing by around 44%. There is also a large amount of support in the form of government grants and incentives to allow businesses easier credit facilities, along with other benefits.
The state was among the first two to legalise cannabis, along with Washington. This has given birth to a strong cannabis sector in the state, which has been rapidly growing since then, with the industry employing 35,000 people and generating $423 Million in tax revenue for the state in 2021.
1. Guild Education
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Brittany Stich, Chris Romer, Rachel Carlson
Guild Education is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2015 and is currently based in the city of Boulder in Colorado. The company makes its money through the use of an online platform that helps adult workers to take part in particular classes, work programs and even degree qualifications that can be studied for alongside their work. This helps workers to upskill themselves and get into higher paying positions.
Since being founded, the company has gone through seven rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in July 2021. These funding rounds have seen the company agree to investment deals with a total of 25 investors. The combined efforts of these investors have helped the business to raise $378.5 Million. The startup has also made an acquisition.
2. Mentor Spaces
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Chris Motley, Kunal Parbadia
Mentor Spaces is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2020 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company offers a community-driven mentorship platform that is specifically designed to assist the careers of black and latinx professionals so that they can take the appropriate steps up the career ladder, with the support of people that have already done so.
Since being founded, the company has gone through seven rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in July 2021. These funding rounds have been supported by a total of fourteen investors that believe in the model of the brand. These investors have helped the company to raise a total figure of $4.5 Million.
3. Phylum
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Evergreen, Colorado, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Aaron Bray, Louis Lang, Peter Morgan
Phylum is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently based in Evergreen, Colorado. The company earns its money through the development of DevOps tools that allow developers to identify potential risks that can appear as a result of an open-source ecosystem and then arm the customer with the ability to mitigate that risk. This helps the customers to create safer software and systems.
Since being founded, the company has gone through a pair of startup funding rounds, with one in 2021 and 2022 respectively. These funding rounds have seen the company agree deals with ten investors, with the cumulative raise of these deals being worth $19.5 Million for future growth.
4. Havenly
Year Founded: 2014
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Emily Motayed, Jessie Dixon, Lee Mayer
Havenly is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2014 and is currently based in the city of the Denver. The company allows homeowners to connect with interior designers online which allows them to get a preview of the styles that their home can have, dependent on the preference and requirements of the customer. This also tailors to customers with budgets of any variety, allowing for maximum use.
Since being founded, the startup has gone through eight rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in December 2021. These funding rounds have been supported by a total of 26 investors and this has helped the team to raise a total of $85.8 Million. The start has also completed one acquisition.
5. Flock Homes
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Ari Rubin
Flock Homes is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company operates a fintech platform that gives its customer the opportunity to take ownership in rental properties through shares in a portfolio. This gives customers a better tax advantage and lowers the risks and burdens of actually owning a rental property.
The business has gone through three rounds of startup funding since being founded, with eight investors believing in the company enough to provide investment. These investors have armed the company with a $26 Million surplus to its budget through the course of these rounds.
6. FungyProof
Year Founded: 2022
HQ: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Mike Roth, Joe Roth
FungyProof is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2022 and is currently based in the city of Boulder. The company has provided a solution for NFT traders that allows them to grade and value particular NFTs 'at a glance'. This helps the person making the trade to know when they're making a good buying decision and when they should potentially change their price slightly.
The business has gone through a single pre-seed round of startup funding, with the round taking place in April 2022. This round has been supported by a group of seven investors, which has helped the startup to raise a total of $1 Million.
7. Casa
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Jameson Lopp, Jeremy Welch, Nick Neuman
Casa is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2016 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company has created a fintech solution that allows users to manage their cryptocurrency holdings and their private keys. This solution helps to increase security when compared to similar offerings and prevents theft and diasters such as losing your information.
Since being founded, the company has gone through four rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in February 2021. This funding round has seen the company agree deals with a total of thirteen investors. The efforts of these investors have helped the company to raise a figure of $6.1 Million.
8. Veho
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Frederick Cook, Itamar Zur, Lukas Keindl, Matt Graham
Veho is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2016 and is currently based in the city of Boulder, Colorado. The company provides a supply chain solution that utilizes digital technology and last-mile crowdfunding in order to fulfill orders easily and effectively for companies in the e-commerce market.
Since being founded, the company has gone through five rounds of startup funding, with the last funding round taking place in February 2022. These funding rounds have seen the company receive funding support from a total of 13 investors. The total funding raised from these investors has reached a figure of $299.2 Million. The company has also made an acquisition.
9. Keys
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: David Blanchard, Jack Peterson, Taylor Margot
Keys is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2020 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company has created a solution to assist with text as a form of communication by using AI-powered technology in order to suggest what you should be writing, based on the intent of the message. This allows for clearer communication and fewer errors.
Since being founded, the company has gone through four rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round being completed in August 2021. These funding rounds have led to the company striking investment deals with a total of 16 investors. The collaborative effort of these investors has led to the company raising a figure of $3 Million.
10. Welcome
Year Founded: 2020
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Jerry Shen, Roberto Ortiz, Tiger Shen
Welcome is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2020 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company has developed a software solution that allows businesses and individuals to design, create and launch their own stunning digital events, taking advantage of the increasing in digital events across the globe.
Since being founded, the company has gone through a single round of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in November 2020. This funding round allowed the company to raise money from a total of four investors. The combined efforts of these investors allowed the company to raise $12 Million.
11. Uplight
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Adrian Tuck
Uplight is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in the city of Boulder, Colorado. The company earns its income through the provision of end-to-end software for simplifying and improving processes within the energy ecosystem. The company emerged as a result of mergers between other businesses and has already attained Unicorn status.
Since being founded, the company has gone through one round of startup funding, with the round taking place during March 2021. The company has also successfully taken over four other businesses. The total raised by the company during its funding round has not yet been disclosed.
12. Scholars
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Ben Siegel, Evan Deere, Parker Pell
Scholars is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2019 and is currently headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. The company has created a HR software platform that helps companies to predict and prevent employer turnover. With the great resignation in full swing and businesses battling for competition, the Scholars platform helps businesses to retain their best people.
Since being founded, the company has gone through four rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in April 2022. These funding rounds have all been supported by a single investor and this investor has sunk a total of $3.5 Million into the startup in that time.
13. CometChat
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Anant Garg, Anuj Garg
CometChat is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company has created a technology solution that helps companies to build chat solutions into their websites that can be used with text, audio and video. Companies can also use this tool to build these functionalities into their applications, which promotes better customer relationships.
Since being founded, the company has gone through six rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round being completed in December 2021. These funding rounds have been supported by a total of 13 investors. The total raise that has been achieved through these investors has reached a figure of $12.6 Million.
14. BillGo
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Dan Holt, Kelly Seidl, Scott Miller
BillGo is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2015 and is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. The company has created a fintech platform for bill payment that aggregates all of your bill payments in one easy to manage solution. This saves a large amount of time on bill management and lets finance teams work on more value-adding tasks, increasing the overall efficiency of the organization.
Since being founded, the company has gone through five rounds of startup funding, with the most recent funding round taking place during August 2020. These funding rounds have seen the company agree to deals with five investors. The total raised from these investors stands at $113.7 Million, with the business also completing an acquisition.
15. Flatfile
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: David Boskovic, Eric Crane
Flatfile is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2018 and is currently headquartered in Denver, Colorado. The company has created a data onboarding platform to assist other businesses with accepting data connections and transfers from third-party organizations. This also means that the use case for the startup is broad and allows for increased growth. Customers will be able to spend more time using their data than cleaning it.
Since being founded, the company has gone through three rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in March 2021. These funding rounds have seen the company agree to deals with a total of 27 investors. The amount raised by the company from these investors has reached a figure of $44.7 Million.
16. Serenity
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 1-10
Founders: Katherine Wells
Serenity is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in the city of Denver. The company has created a messaging platform specifically designed for senior care and the platform itself complies with HIPPA regulations. This allows for care teams to collaborate more effectively, which leads to improve customer outcomes through improved productivity.
Since being founded, the company has gone through two funding rounds, with one in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The company has agreed to three deals with investors through these funding rounds and this has allowed the business to raise a figure of $2.4 Million.
17. Tilled
Year Founded: 2019
HQ: Boulder, Colorado, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Caleb Avery
Tilled is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2019 and is currently based in the city of Boulder, Colorado. The company has created a fintech solution for software companies that allows the to monetize payments coming through their platforms. This is achieved without any of the difficulties of personally maintaining compliance, liability and any of the other headaches involved in the process.
Since being founded, the startup has gone through three rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in February 2022. These funding rounds have allowed the company to agree deals with twelve investors. This has led to the business raising a figure of $24.2 Million.
18. Soona
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: Elizabeth Giorgi, Hayley Anderson
Soona is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2018 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company has developed an online content studio platform that helps brands to create better photos and videos for their e-commerce and marketing campaigns. The business was established after the takeover of the founder's first startup.
Since being founded, the company has gone through seven rounds of startup funding and the most recent of these rounds was conducted in January 2022. The company has used these rounds to strike deals with 10 investors and the total raised from these investors has reached a figure of $53.5 Million.
19. Long Play
Year Founded: 2021
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 251-500
Founders: Andrew Davison
Long Play is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2021 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The business operates as a cannabis portfolio company that aims to take products directly to market for consumers for adult use, medicinal purposes and the wellness market.
The business has gone through a single round of startup funding since being founded. This round took place in April 2021 and helped the company to raise a figure of $114.7 Million. The investors for this funding round were not disclosed.
20. BioIntelliSense
Year Founded: 2018
HQ: Golden, Colorado, USA
Size: 51-100
Founders: David Wang, James Mault, MD FACS
BioIntelliSense is a startup in Colorado that was founded in 2018 and is based in Golden, Colorado. The company has developed a platform for continuous monitoring of health and provision of clinical intelligence through the use of wearable medical devices that capture numerous health indicators and feed this back to medical professionals for better care outcomes.
Since being founded, the company has gone through three rounds of startup funding, with the most recent round taking place in July 2021. These funding rounds have been supported by three investors. The total funding raised from these three investors has reached a total of $82 Million.
21. Valyant AI
Year Founded: 2017
HQ: Denver, Colorado, USA
Size: 11-50
Founders: Rob Carpenter
Valyant AI is a Colorado startup that was founded in 2017 and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. The company has developed an AI platform for conversational processes to assist with restaurants, retail and service-based businesses. This helps customers to reduce their overheads, reduce the time taken to facilitate orders and increase their overall profitability.
Since being founded, the company has gone through five rounds of startup funding, with the last funding round taking place in April 2022. These funding rounds have allowed the business to raise a figure of $9.7 Million.
FAQs
How Many Startups Are There in Colorado?
There are currently around 4389 startups in Colorado.
What Is The Average Investment in Colorado?
Colorado startups have been doing well consistently, with $6.5 Billion being raised in 2021.
What Are The Strongest Sectors in Colorado?
The strongest sectors in Colorado are agriculture, manufacturing, mining and tourism.
