Denver-based Smartwyre Inc. expects to double its headcount, with a significant portion of that growth coming to the Mile High City.
The company, which was founded in February 2019, develops subscription software for suppliers in the agricultural sector that help with pricing, incentives and commercial information. It had a fundraising round led by Indianapolis-based High Alpha Capital starting in August of 2021 that sold $10.5 million in equity. Now Smartwyre employs about 50 people globally, with more than 20 based in the Denver area, said CEO John Brubaker.
“We wanted to be in the Denver community for a few reasons,” Brubaker said.
First, the city has a deep community of technology professionals with expertise in software development, sales and strategy, he said.
“That was a good place for us to bring that talent into our company,” Brubaker said.
The area is also home to a number of major agricultural businesses, many of which are either current or prospective major customers for Smartwyre, Brubaker said. Such companies include Wilbur-Ellis’ Agribusiness arm in Aurora and Pinnacle Agriculture — acquired by the J.R. Simplot Co. in 2020 — which was located in Loveland.
“There is a little-known cluster of major players in the U.S. market,” Brubaker said. “And there’s not a lot of places in the U.S. where you can find that sort of overlap of technology as well as this industry.”
The company’s status as a private organization means it doesn’t have to disclose its financials, but Brubaker said the state of his company’s situation is such that it is able to deploy capital raised from investors primarily for growth.
"There's the notion of, 'We're spending x millions of dollars per month, so we've got to fill up the bank.' We're not one of those," Brubaker said. "We've been very careful about how to spend money."
In particular, the company is pursuing product development and expanding its sales and marketing capabilities, he said. It's also considering expansion into certain international markets.
Brubaker is expecting his company to roughly double its headcount in the next 12 to 18 months, with somewhere between a third and half of that growth occurring in the Denver area, he said.
The company’s Denver footprint comprises some semi-permanent flex space at 2301 Blake St., near Coors Field. While Brubaker said he would eventually like to have more permanent space under a commercial lease in Denver, the company is still feeling out the real estate market and its own needs after delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Covid has probably delayed that, but we certainly are keen for the alternatives and choices that the Denver commercial real estate offering has for a company like us,” he said.
Smartwyre also raised money in 2019, shortly after it was founded. That April it started an equity sale of $3.08 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Denver area’s venture capital star has been rising lately, with a record amount of venture capital funding raised in 2021.
