Denver Startup Week, the largest free entrepreneurial event of its kind in North America, returns to Downtown Denver for a fourth year from today through Friday. Denver Startup Week, aimed at growing a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Denver, will feature more than 215 programs geared toward the entire entrepreneurial community.
Events span networking sessions, mentor hours, workshops, leadership spotlights and panel presentations that collectively will attract up to 10,000 people who are looking to start or grow their business in Denver.
The week begins with a Kick-off Breakfast highlighting five of Denver’s successful “homegrown” entrepreneurs, including:
- Eric Roza, senior vice president, Oracle Data Cloud
- Jim Deters, founder and CEO, Galvanize
- Jacqueline Ros, founder and CEO, Revolar
- Jenna Walker and Katie Thurmes, co-founders, Artifact Uprising
The breakfast will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. today at the Seawell Ballroom.
Denver’s reputation as one of the best places to start and grow a business has once again attracted notable speakers and startup experts such as Marcus Lemonis of CNBC’s The Profit; Dag Kittlaus, co-founder of Siri; Edward Kim, CEO and co-founder of Gusto (formerly ZenPayroll); Todd Tobin, co-founder and CTO of Craftsy; Seth Levine of Rally Software and Pledge 1% and Brad Feld of Techstars and The Foundry Group.
Denver Startup Week is organized by the Denver Startup Week Organizing Committee and co-led by Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, Erik Mitisek, CEO of the Colorado Technology Association and Ben Deda, executive vice president of marketing and business development at Galvanize. Highlights of the more than 215 events that showcase the diverse faces and industries of startup businesses in Denver include:
- Building the Active Lifestyle Industry – Highlighting Denver as the top place for active living and featuring local makers in the emerging, active lifestyle marketplace (and winners of Chase Mission Main Street Grants) Mike Maloney (KOTA Longboards) and Will Montague (Guerilla Gravity).
Tuesday 4 to 5:30 p.m., InkMonstr (2721 W. Holden Place)
- Startup Job Fair – Connecting talented job seekers with the best Denver-based startups and growth-mode companies.
Tuesday 6 to 10 p.m., Buell Theatre Lobby (1400 Curtis St.)
Women Who Startup Summit – Celebrating, connecting and empowering women entrepreneurs and supporting diversity in technology.
Tuesday 6 to 9 p.m., Galvanize Golden Triangle (1062 Delaware St.)
- Entrepreneurial Veterans – Representatives from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, and Colorado-based Patriot Bootcamp and Skill Distillery, the first and only coding boot camp to accept GI Bill benefits, will focus on how men and women in the U.S. military can transition to startup success.
Tuesday noon to 1 p.m., Basecamp, launched by Chase (16th and Arapahoe St.)
- Denver Founders Panel – VIP founders from some of the biggest companies in the area will explore hyper-growth and focus on scalability and what they would have done differently.
Wednesday 6 to 9 p.m., Chambers Grant Salon (1101 13th St.)
- TechCrunch Meetup and Pitch Off – TechCrunch comes to Denver for the first time to hold their internationally-recognized competition featuring 10 startup companies all competing to exhibit in Startup Alley at TechCrunch events in London or New York.
Thursday 6 to 10 p.m., Galvanize Platte Street (1644 Platte St.)
- Startup Farmers Market – Denver, renowned for its food scene, is one of the best places to launch a food-based startup. The popular Startup Farmers Market will close-out Denver Startup Week and include companies like Real Dill hand-crafted artisan pickles, 34degrees crisps and Dead Dog chocolate.
Friday 5:30 p.m., Basecamp, launched by Chase (16th and Arapahoe St.)
In addition, significant funding resources will be awarded at several pitching and business plan competitions including the JumpStart Biz Plan Awards, where the Denver Office of Economic Development will award a grand prize of $30,000 of consulting services, and the Digital Health Challenge, where companies will culminate three months of work to vie for $150,000 in seed capital from the Colorado Health Foundation.
Back by popular demand, Basecamp launched by Chase returns as the hub and epicenter of Denver Startup Week. Basecamp, located on the first floor of 1515 Arapahoe St. (16th and Arapahoe streets), will feature a line-up of entrepreneurs and innovators through keynote speakers, panels and mentoring sessions throughout the week. See the complete roster at www.denverstartupweek.com/basecamp.
Highlights of Basecamp’s free programming include:
- Keynote Speakers and Panels: The brightest minds in the startup world speak daily
- Leadership Series: An intimate look at high-profile leaders in the entrepreneurial community
- Mentoring Sessions: 20-minute one-on-one sessions with top entrepreneurs and business leaders between 2 to 4 p.m. daily
Comments are closed.
Leave a comment