With more than 50 events and 85 guest speakers, the fifth annual Colorado Springs Startup Week has worked hard to fulfill its promise to inspire, educate, engage and connect entrepreneurs.
During the event’s packed five-day agenda, attendees networked at social hours, toured local startups, participated in pitch competitions and heard from dozens of local, state, national and international entrepreneurs from a variety of industries.
Chris Franz, the managing director of Pioneer Fund and one of the original organizers of Colorado Springs Startup Week, says the event has seen a lot of growth and development since it first launched in 2014.
Five years ago, Franz says the agenda included only 15 sessions and stayed concentrated in a small area. However, even with the small number of offerings and the newness of the concept, an estimated 150 people attended, showing a real desire in the community for what the event had to offer. Franz and his fellow organizers took what they learned that first year and used it to shape Startup Week into the event it is today.
Natasha Main, executive director of Peak Startup, estimates that upwards of 1,000 people attended the various events this year, a testament to how both the event and the community have grown in just a short time.
Jake Eichengreen, executive director at Quad Partnership, credits this shift to the city’s embrace of startup culture.
“The community better understands what a startup is now and how it can impact the business ecosystem and the economy,” says Eichengreen.
That sense of community has also helped the greater startup ecosystem to grow and thrive in Colorado Springs beyond the events of Startup Week.
“It’s easy to meet people,” says Main. “We have a tight-knit community that’s really welcoming.”
Eichengreen points out how just how unique that atmosphere is when taking into consideration the size of the population.
“For a community of 750,000, the accessibility to a lot of community institutions is unparalleled,” says Eichengreen. “When you’re starting something new, having that wealth of access to those resources is important.”
There are other reasons he thinks that the startup ecosystem is thriving, as well.
“Resources are cheap, office space is premium,” says Eichengreen. “People want to live here and that makes it easy to find employees.”
Asked what he’d like to see in future Startup Weeks, Eichengreen says he’s like to see more Denver entrepreneurs come to Colorado Springs and see what the startup ecosystem is doing.
Main agrees, adding, “I think we need to grow the ecosystem and have more of the greater community feel like they get to be a part of it and have a sense of ownership of it. This is something that everyone should feel they can participate in.”
