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Boulder Entrepreneurs Dominate Venture Capital Conference
After congregating in Beaver Creek at the 25th Annual Venture Capital
in the Rockies conference the last week in February, VC’s from around
the country are radiating their risk capital into the Rocky Mountain
region in support of some of the nation’s most promising start-ups. Out
of 20 presenting companies, almost half were from greater metro
Boulder, which is becoming the center of venture-backed entrepreneurism
with organizations like Brad Feld’s Foundry Group, clean-tech fund
Infield Capital, the TechStars start-up competition and others fueling
the fires of technology economic development. And after merging several
regional VC associations into the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital
Association (RMVCA) last year, there was more out-of-state
representation than ever before.
Sponsored by the RMVCA and KPMG, the conference was a refreshing and
defining moment in the entrepreneurial renaissance we're seeing in our
region. The roster of presenting companies has evolved from pure
high-tech to a maturing mix of businesses, with products ranging from
batteries to energy drinks, from solar voltaics to smart homes, all
gaining ground alongside the more typical “Web 2.0” applications and
software platforms spawned from the proverbial garage or dorm room.
From cutting deals over drinks and bar napkins in the late '90s, the
VC's have emerged a bit more mature as well, with very disciplined,
almost academic financial diligence applied to more developed
companies, most with actual customers, revenues and strong seed-stage
funding well in place. Many of those entrepreneurs who lightning struck
in the '90s made the lifestyle move to the region in general, and
Boulder County in particular. They didn't know each other back then,
but now they do, and it's fun to watch these now-over-30-year-old
serial entrepreneurs work together and apply their filtering and
funding processes to the next wave of deals that are driving a true
entrepreneurial renaissance in the region and around the country...
continue...
More about John Metzger
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