Burgeoning entrepreneurs can be connected with investors, mentorship and cash prizes
Mike Blecha, co-founder of AnywhereCam in Fort Morgan, tells a crowd of people about his farm monitoring camera system startup at the 2024 Western Slope Startup Week. The event, held at the Powerhouse in Durango, brought together burgeoning companies and investors to showcase Colorado’s rural innovators. (Courtesy of Olivia Reed)
Startup Colorado, a nonprofit that aims to connect burgeoning businesses in rural Colorado with investors and funding, has a pitch call for their annual Western Slope Startup Week. The nonprofit is calling on any startup in rural Colorado that is coachable, viable and pursuing growth, with the deadline for pitches being Aug. 20.
The weeklong event is meant to showcase innovative new companies in the rural areas outside of the largely urban Front Range, said Margaret Hedderman, content director for Startup Colorado. The purpose, she said, is to create thriving businesses that are based in rural communities throughout Colorado.
“This event is open to all rural entrepreneurs,” Hedderman said. “We would ideally like for them to be part of – whether it’s Durango or beyond – a rural, innovate community. We want them to be connected to the potential and the broader movement for rural entrepreneurship.”
Hedderman said the nonprofit has a track record of supporting rural communities. The 2024 startup week, she said, connected startups to $380,000 in investments from the Greater Colorado Venture Fund and the 14 Founders by Kickstart Fund, as well as thousands in cash prizes and mentoring opportunities, she said. Companies also have the chance to access investment opportunities from a network of funders; $10,000 in interest-free Kiva loan campaigns; and legal, marketing and advisory services from experts.
“We believe that everybody should be able to start and scale a business in the place that they call home,” Hedderman said. “We also are working to dismantle the long-held stereotype that entrepreneurship only happens in major urban centers.”
There were several notable awardees in 2024, Hedderman said. The diversity of the companies pointed to why it is important for rural entrepreneurs to have the ability to connect to investors.
Robin Hall, co-founder of Town Hall in Steamboat Springs, a sustainable outdoor children clothes maker, makes the audience laugh as she explains her startup in August 2024. (Courtesy of Olivia Reed)
Basalt-based event management platform Partytrick, founded by Virginia Frischkorn, received a $140,000 investment. ScaleIP, which was founded by Telluride resident Mark Leonard and specializes in helping people and institutions monetize intellectual property, was also awarded a $140,000 investment. Gnarna, a clothing company based in Gunnison that was founded by Georgia Grace Edwards, received a $100,000 investment for their work with the GoFly zipper, a zipper sewn into pants and shorts that allows women to conveniently go to the bathroom while in the outdoors.
“It’s really important to have small businesses and startups in a rural economy because they are capable of generating new jobs and bringing people to town because of those new jobs and retaining talent in a community,” Hedderman said.
Hedderman said that any startup based on Colorado’s Western Slope that has a viable long-term business plan, is open to coaching from professionals, wants to pursue growth and is creative, is eligible to pitch their ideas. The 2025 startup week will be held Oct. 8 through 16 in Durango.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
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