The corridor encompassing Denver and Boulder has proven itself as a strong ecosystem for startups, and its position as a hub for innovation is only improving.
In just the last four months, Denver debuted on a list of the nation's ten fastest-growing startup cities, earned a spot on a list of the top 46 tech cities worldwide, ranked as the No. 10 market in North America for tech talent and was named the best state for women entrepreneurs.
While Colorado continues to improve its standing as one of the best places for startups, its future rests on young entrepreneurs. That brings us to Colorado Inno's fourth annual Under 25 list, a recognition of some of the state's most effective innovators and entrepreneurs who are 25 years old and younger.
This year's list of honorees includes inventors, founders and innovators who have stood out in their respective fields. They've honed their abilities on their college campuses, in their middle and high schools, through fellowships and as part of the state's most cutting-edge startups.
Meet Colorado Inno's Under 25 honorees.
Gitanjali Rao, 16
Inventor
By the age of 16, Lone Tree teenager Gitanjali Rao has invented two devices: a patent-protected device called Tethys to detect lead in water, and a tool she named Epione that uses genetic engineering to enable the early detection of prescription opioid addiction. Rao also partnered with UNICEF to develop an anti-bullying mobile application, Kindly, which uses artificial intelligence to detect words or phrases that could be considered cyberbullying. The app gives people the chance to edit their messages and encourages them to think about the language they use. Rao was named Time Magazine's first-ever Kid of the Year in 2020, and she was recently named as a top 10 finalist for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize, which comes with a $100,000 award. She described her innovation process in the bestselling book, "Young Innovator's Guide to STEM."
Michelle Lehman, 25
Animation and video specialist at Quantum Design, Inc.
During her junior year at Middlebury College in Vermont, Michelle Lehman, a neuroscience major from Basalt, Colo., enrolled in a 3D animation class simply because it fit into her schedule. Through the class, she discovered a new passion for animation that led her to pursue a profession combining her interests in both art and science. Lehman began working with professors, researchers and local health care workers to produce animations that communicated complex scientific topics. She now lives in Denver and works for San Diego-based Quantum Design, Inc., where she established the company's animation infrastructure. Lehman previously established the animation infrastructure at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Brendan Paver, 23
Opto-mechanical engineer at ColdQuanta
In his nearly two years at ColdQuanta, Brendan Paver has led the design and implementation of multiple complex imaging systems that look at the characteristics of cold atoms. ColdQuanta, a Boulder-based quantum company, is developing quantum solutions to be used for computing, sensing and communications purposes. It recently announced a deal to develop portable atomic clocks for the U.S. Navy. Paver is part of the team that works on ColdQuanta's Albert quantum signal processing system, which enables the design and prototyping of quantum products. ColdQuanta said the project is vital for driving forward quantum technologies.
David Lopez, 23
Founder of Gritly
As a first-generation college graduate with a knack for entrepreneurship, David Lopez wanted to start a company that could help underserved individuals obtain well-paying jobs in the technology industry. He followed through on that goal in 2019 when he founded Gritly, which started as a boot camp for tech sales. The platform was successful in helping trainees find new jobs that significantly increased their incomes and got them off of government assistance programs, Lopez said. Gritly has expanded to become a hiring platform that matches diverse, qualified candidates to non-technical, entry-level jobs in tech. In July, Gritly was awarded a $100,000 grant through Google's Startups Latino Founders Fund. In addition to cash, Gritly will receive hands-on programming and support from Google.
Lauren Morissette, 17, Ben Whitaker, 18, Jasper Bauer-Brown, 17, Jonathan Van't Land, 18
Robotics team
Four northern Colorado teenagers from different schools assembled in Johnstown five years ago to create a robotics team they named 13835 Enigma. As the teens got deeper into the robotics world, they felt they lacked support from their schools to pursue major competitions. They broke off on their own and have so far this year competed in three tournaments, each with more than 60 teams. 13835 Enigma took second place in February at the state youth robotics tournament and earned a ticket to the world championships in Houston in April. At the world competition, they placed 67th out of 160 teams on the robot playing field. The team said they enjoyed meeting and competing with other students from all over the world.
Cloye Hairgrove, 25
Forensic specialist at Digital Silence
According to Cloye Hairgrove's boss at Digital Silence, innovation is her innate mindset. "When she walks into a project — or a room — she seeks ways to make it better, more efficient or more functional," wrote the company's chief security officer, JT Gaietto, in his summation of Hairgrove. Digital Silence, based in Denver, is a boutique cybersecurity research and consulting firm. As a forensic specialist, Hairgrove locates malware and investigates potential maleficence. She's an integral part of the company's incident response and digital forensics process, Gaietto said. Hairgrove arrived at the company after exploring other areas of information security, from working in security operations centers to running penetration tests of clients' computer systems.
Vikram Raju, 12
Winner of Discovery Education's young scientist competition
Vikram Raju, a middle school student in Aurora, received national acclaim earlier this summer when he took second place at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He lost in a tie-breaking lightning round, which marked the first instance that the nearly 100-year-old competition had been decided by a spell-off. Raju has since turned his attention toward science. In August, Discovery Education and 3M named Raju as one of 31 state merit winners in the 2022 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Raju won for his prototype of a module that could be added to electric vehicles to charge them on the go using renewable energy. In an interview with the Denver television station KDVR, Raju said he aspired to one day work in the intersection of technology and medicine.
Ben Siegel, 24, and Parker Pell, 25
Founders of Scholars
Ben Siegel and Parker Pell came together during their junior year at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, to establish their first startup, QuikFix, an online platform that connected local homeowners with students who could perform odd jobs. While that venture ultimately fizzled, the experience led to their launch of Scholars in 2019. The platform connects companies with college students and young adults for internships and entry-level positions. Its aim is to help companies eliminate turnover by providing a personalized experience for candidates in their hiring funnel. Scholars works with companies such as eBay, Lyft and Dell. It's raised $5 million in seed funding, including an investment from Boulder-based Matchstick Ventures. Siegel and Pell recently relocated from Tennessee to Denver to grow their business.
Eboni Nash, 25
Moonshot edVentures fellow
Since graduating with her master's degree in theology from Harvard University last year, Eboni Nash has become deeply involved in Denver's education community. She works as the diversity, equity and inclusion program manager for the Metropolitan State University of Denver and serves on the board of the Colorado Women's Education Foundation. In her free time, Nash volunteers as a virtual counselor with Project Avary, a nonprofit that provides mentorship to children with incarcerated parents. For the past year, Nash has worked as a fellow with Moonshot edVentures, a program that supports leaders as they launch education innovations for Metro Denver. Nash is creating her own school-based program called B.R.A.I.D., which stands for Building Resilient Agency for Inclusive Direction. The program is intended to serve students who've had experiences with incarceration or deportation.
Derek Jackson, 22
Growth lead at Warmly
While still studying at the University of Colorado last year, Derek Jackson joined Warmly, an early-stage startup that helps professionals better connect over virtual meetings. He was hired as a full-time employee after graduating, and as the startup's growth lead, he's helped the company expand to 25 workers, raise venture funding and increase its number of users to more than 100,000. Jackson has been drawn to entrepreneurship since high school and spent his years at CU immersed in Boulder's startup scene. Before joining Warmly, Jackson worked for Boulder-based Artimus Robotics, where he helped build out the startup's go-to-market strategy. He aspires to one day found his own company.
