As the Colorado startup ecosystem continues to grow, Rockies Venture Club has landed grant funding to launch a program aimed at mobilizing local investors to back local companies.
RVC was awarded $470,000 in total grant funding by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade as part of their 2019 Collaborative Infrastructure Grants.
A total of $1.12 million was approved by the grant commission and awarded to companies with industry-wide impact across one or more of Colorado OEDIT’s seven designated advanced industries: advanced manufacturing, aerospace, bioscience, electronics, energy and natural resources, infrastructure engineering and technology and information.
After three decades of angel investing in Colorado, RVC is planning to use the money to create new angel communities throughout the state, with the target of mobilizing new angel investors.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the State of Colorado to mobilize some of the passive capital that we have here in our community into great Colorado startups that create jobs and foster economic development throughout the state," RVC Executive Director Peter Adams said in a statement. "People send their money to Wall Street through their financial advisors, but there are better investment opportunities here in our own community.”
RVC has over 215 investor members and invests in 20 to 25 companies annually across the region. In 2019, RVC has backed local startups Sheets & Giggles, PharmaJet, CirrusMD and Recoup Fitness, among others.
With the grant funding, the organization will focus on driving local investment to vertically-oriented sectors, like health, life science, natural food and beverage.
The group's first area of expansion in Colorado will be in clean technology, as RVC partners with the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association and the Traxion Venture Network to launch a Cleantech Angels group in October.
CCIA Executive Director Shelly Curtiss praised the partnership's potential impact on a budding local industry.
“The challenge of raising early stage capital is a constant frustration for many of our member companies," she said in a statement. "By working with Traxion and RVC, we will increase the number of cleantech companies in the angel investor’s pitch pipeline, while bringing new investors to the table interested in clean technology investment opportunities.”
As RVC continues to build this network, the organization is focused on active recruitment, education, retention and formation of angel groups aligned with the advanced industries, as well as more investment deals and job creation with new companies.
