The Startup Colorado Pitch Competition aims to provide $280,000 in investment opportunities to five local founders.
West Slope Startup Week runs from Aug. 19 to Aug. 23 and offers a variety of networking opportunities for entrepreneurs. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald File)
Jerry McBride
West Slope Startup Week, hosted by Startup Colorado, returns to Durango in late August.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners from across the region will attend a free educational conference at the Fort Lewis College Innovation Center from Aug. 19 to Aug. 23.
Startup Colorado aims to help local entrepreneurs make connections within a statewide network of resources that can help them access funding, provide education, identify mentorship and provide government assistance.
Most notably, Startup Colorado offers a pre-accelerator program called the Founder CO-OPetition, which helps prepare entrepreneurs to enter accelerator programs such as the Southwest Colorado Accelerator Program for Entrepreneurs.
West Slope Startup Week will feature more than 70 educational sessions led by local entrepreneurs, curated based on ideas submitted by the community and selected by an objective committee of entrepreneurs.
This year’s topics include business expansion and franchising, digital marketing, artificial intelligence and investment selection. There will also be a number of panel discussions with experienced investors and entrepreneurs, one of which will discuss how to take advantage of local climate prospects.
The organization has worked with Southwest Colorado businesses including TripOutside, EsoTerra Cider and Gravity Lab.
“This year’s program is the best yet,” event organizer Vanessa McClan said in a news release. “It will bring together successful entrepreneurs from across the state to deliver impactful sessions that will benefit the entire startup community.”
There will also be expanded Spanish language session options through the Latino Program. Startup Colorado will host the Startup Colorado Pitch Competition on Aug. 21, where five local founders will compete for a $280,000 investment opportunity.
“This event is for everyone,” McClan said, adding that Main Avenue business owners “will gain valuable insight” from workshops on finance, marketing and human resources.
McClann also said fast-growing startups can use “rural Colorado as a base” to learn how to scale, raise capital and expand into global markets.
“We learn faster and better when we’re together,” she said.
The event is aimed at both serial entrepreneurs who have launched multiple businesses and first-timers looking for guidance and support.
Startup Colorado began as part of the University of Colorado Law School but became a nonprofit last year with a mission to support entrepreneurs in Durango and other rural areas across Colorado.
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