Venture capital funding significantly slowed down this year across the nation in 2023 and Colorado was no exception.
As of Q3, Colorado-based companies had raised a collective $1.7 billion, down nearly 52% year over year through Q3, according to data provided by real estate and investment company CBRE (NYSE: CBRE). Yet, the Denver and Boulder area still ranked among the top 10 U.S. metros to pull in VC funding in 2023, beating out cities like Atlanta and Chicago.
“Tech sector VC funding, the longstanding largest contributor by industry, has slumped this year,” according to CBRE’s Colorado Venture Capital Funding Trends report released in late December. “Meanwhile, the life sciences sector has already seen its VC funding reach an annual high as of Q3 2023, and the aerospace and defense sector is on pace for its second-highest annual VC funding total to date.”
Despite the decline in VC this year, Colorado companies still closed successful, sizeable, funding rounds, with millions going to aerospace and defense businesses.
Colorado’s 10 largest venture capital and private equity deals raised in 2023 totaled nearly $2.8 billion, spanning industries like space, artificial intelligence, cannabis, healthtech, autonomous vehicles and energy.
Outrider — $73 million
Outrider uses autonomous vehicles to complete and simplify repetitive, manual tasks in trucking distribution yards. The company secured $73 million in Series C financing in January 2023 to further develop its autonomous technology. Founded in 2017, Outrider has raised $191 million to date — including $53 million in 2020 — and operates a 200,000-square-foot distribution yard in Brighton.
Voyager Space — $80 million
The Denver company, which develops private space stations for research, raised $80 million in January 2023. Nine months later, the space company partnered with aerospace contractor Northrop Grumman to develop autonomous cargo delivery services for the Starlab commercial space station. Voyager Space is also developing the space station.
Binske — $80 million
Tied with Voyager Space, Binske pulled in an $80 million seed round in January 2023. The Denver-based company produces and sells cannabis products, such as edibles, extracts and vapes.
True Anomaly — $100 million
In December, space defense company True Anomaly raised a $100 million Series B round led by Riot Ventures. The company said the capital will fund significant hiring in the near future. The Centennial-based company has grown from 50 employees to 107 over the past year. It also raised a $17 million Series A in April.
Ursa Major — $100 million
Berthoud-based Ursa Major secured $138 million across two rounds in 2023 — a $100 million Series D in April and a $38 million Series D-1 announced in December. The rocket engine startup is developing solid rocket motors for the U.S. military, defense contractors and commercial space customers. The fresh capital will go toward developing Lynx, Ursa Major’s new solid rocket motor program.
Prins AI — $100 million
Prins AI uses artificial intelligence to help companies and superstars create digital identities. This $100 million raise in October comes two months after the company pulled in a $22 million Series A+ round. Prins AI was formed in June 2023 and is based out of an active Chuy’s Tex-Mex restaurant in Lakewood, per documents from the Colorado Secretary of State.
BKV Corp. — $150 million
Denver-based BKV Corp. raised $150 million from eight investors in October, according to a Form D filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This comes nearly one year after the company announced plans to go public.
Strive Health — $166 million
Tech-enabled kidney care company Strive Health secured a $166 million Series C round in late May. The round was led by NEA with participation from CVS Health Ventures. The funds were slated to help the Denver company expand into new markets and invest in existing partnerships with health systems, payors, medical groups and others.
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Sierra Space — $290 million
Sierra Space, a Louisville-based space company, raised a $290 million Series B in September. This round brought its valuation to $5.3 billion. Sierra Space has pulled in $1.7 billion since it spun out of Sierra Nevada Corp. in April 2021. Sierra Space has been developing its Dream Chaser spacecraft to deliver scientific research materials and cargo to the International Space Station. Its first flight is expected to take place in April 2024.
Vantage Data Centers — roughly $1.64 billion
Vantage Data Centers sold a minority stake in its Europe, Middle East and Africa business to pension fund AustralianSuper for 1.5 billion euros, or roughly $1.64 billion, in September. Headquartered in Denver, Vantage offers scalable wholesale data centers to cloud providers and large companies. Vantage has data centers across North America, the EMEA and APAC. Vantage will use the funds to expand its hyperscale data centers across the EMEA, according to a statement from the company.
This story has been updated to show Vantage Data Centers sold a minority stake in its Europe, Middle East and Africa business to pension fund AustralianSuper for 1.5 billion euros, or roughly $1.64 billion.
