The brightest in Colorado's tech and startup scene gathered Thursday night at Denver's Space Gallery to celebrate the inaugural Colorado Inno on Fire, a party honoring 50 of the most innovative companies and individuals in the state.
This event was an opportunity to bring the community together and celebrate those that are driving Colorado forward.
We began this process in July when we asked our readers to nominate people or companies they thought were having a positive impact on the local innovation ecosystem. From there, the Inno team compiled those submissions and selected the top 50, our first Inno on Fire.
The common thread among our winners is that these people and startups have had a banner year—whether that’s new funding, recent product launches, big hires or innovative approaches to solving problems.
Winners span industries from health care to AI to lifestyle, with some just getting off the ground and others with a decade of progress at their back.
After choosing the 50 winners, we reached out to members of the startup community to help us select our category-winning Inno Blazers. Along with the title, these eight people and companies received Inno's iconic red blazer.
Now, let’s get to the list of 2019 Colorado Inno Blazer winners:
Software
Stateless – After launching from stealth earlier this year, Boulder’s Stateless has made plenty of noise. The company announced an $11.3 million Series A led by Drive Capital in January and opened a new Boulder HQ, with aggressive plans to grow in the city. Now that Stateless has put down roots in Boulder, the company is looking to more than double the size of its team in the next 18 months, from 50 employees to approximately 130.
AI
Geospiza – The emergency management software startup has been everywhere over the last year. Geospiza took home $100,000 in Chloe Capital’s Denver Women Investors Forum Pitch Competition in February, before winning first place in the Enterprise & Smart Data category at the SXSW Pitch Competition in March. Then, the company closed a $1 million funding round in May with participation from Techstars, GAN Ventures, Next Wave Ventures, Chloe Capital, Alumni Ventures Group and Kokopelli Ventures.
Medtech & Healthcare
CirrusMD – Funding, partnerships and aggressive hiring plans highlight CirrusMD’s busy year. The digital urgent care startup landed a $15 million Series B in May, led by Drive Capital and Colorado Impact Fund. In addition to the funding, CirrusMD announced a new contract with Iron Bow Technologies, a subcontractor to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, that will provide improved care access and delivery for the country’s veterans. The company has about 40 employees spread across its Denver headquarters and offices in California, Texas and Georgia. CEO and co-founder Andrew Altorfer said he expects to double the company’s employee headcount in the next year, with a focus on the Denver HQ.
Food & Beverage
FoodMaven – FoodMaven is on a mission close the food waste gap and has built up serious momentum this year to do so. The company closed a $10 million funding round in January and announced the acquisition of Anderson Beef. A few months later, the company partnered with Hilton Hotels and moved into a new downtown Colorado Springs office.
Supporters
Nina Sharma, DU Project X-ITE – As managing director of DU’s Project X-ITE, Nina Sharma has her hands in a host of college ventures and innovation. Project X-ITE is DU’s program to support students interested in working at or launching startups. Sharma was also named to the Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list for 2019.
Aerospace & Energy
Boom Supersonic – Want to get from NYC to London in half the time of a normal flight? With a $100 million funding round earlier this year, Centennial’s Boom Supersonic is well on its way. The round was led round was led by Emerson Collective, Y Combinator Continuity, Caffeinated Capital and SV Angel as well as founders and early backers of Google, Airbnb, Stripe and Dropbox. Boom is on track to take flight with its two-seat demonstrator plane, the XB-1, in 2020.
Lifestyle
Sheets & Giggles – Denver’s Sheets & Giggles burst onto the local startup scene this past year with its eucalyptus bed sheets and affinity for puns. The company took home gold at the Denver Startup Week Pitch Challenge last year before joining the 2019 class of Techstars Boulder. Even before that, Sheets & Giggles’ 2018 IndieGoGo campaign was a smash hit, raising more than $250,000 from 2,000-plus backers. The company capped this momentum off by raising a $1.3 million seed round to help meet production demand for its line of sustainable sheets made from eucalyptus trees.
Inno Picks
Zestful – As the market for tech jobs becomes increasingly competitive, companies have been forced to get creative with compensation. Salary isn’t the only factor, and Denver’s Zestful launched earlier this year to make managing perks more simple for employers. The company launched its customizable employee perk program in January with a $1.1 million funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Day One Ventures, Matchstick Ventures and Shrug Capital. Since then, Zestful has grown rapidly and finished in second place in Colorado Inno’s Tech Madness competition in March.
Check out the 2019 Inno on Fire Winner Video
2019 Inno on Fire Party (Gallery)
Gallery
