Startup resources in Denver
Startup Resources lists 181 resources for founders in Denver, as of , and the lists below show 74 of them by need. Denver is in Photon Mountain, the Colorado Startups region that also takes in Boulder, Golden and Arvada. The lists cover accelerators and incubators, meetups and events, coworking spaces, investors, support programs and universities, then towns nearby; most of the rest are service providers.
Accelerators and incubators
An accelerator is a mentor-led program for a company that is already building. An incubator helps founders test an idea, build a team and set up the company.
Accelerators
A Denver program with an MVP Lab for tech founders. The lab serves Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Indigenous founders. It gives them mentoring, capital, business training and technology guidance.
CrowdSolve Climate Impact Accelerator
A subscription platform for first-time founders. It pairs AI with experienced founders to test ideas with customers. It takes no equity. It powers the University of Colorado's New Venture Challenge.
A program for cybersecurity companies. Applicants join through a short intake form. A conversation about fit and goals follows.
A mentor-driven accelerator program in Denver.
A social enterprise accelerator. It trains founders to launch mission-driven businesses. It has free cohorts for entrepreneurs in Colorado. It has self-paced online courses too.
Startup Colorado Community Fund
A Startup Colorado initiative that gives grants. The grants go to groups that support the Colorado startup ecosystem. It focuses on Front Range communities such as Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.
A company whose Vixa score measures how durable a small or midsize business is. It lets founders prove what they built. Lenders and investors can see it.
Incubators
A workspace in Denver's RiNo district. It offers offices, coworking, conference rooms and event space. Startups work alongside larger companies there.
SCORE's national small business mentoring network. Its Colorado chapters serve Metro Denver and Northern Colorado. More chapters serve Southern Colorado and the Western Slope.
Where founders meet
Groups and events where founders learn, find cofounders and pitch. Startup events in Colorado lists the next events on the Colorado Startups event calendar.
Meetups and communities
A Denver nonprofit for agile and lean practice. It holds monthly meetups. It has special interest groups such as Agile Boulder and Human-Centered AI. It also has a member Slack community.
A product community in Boulder and Denver. It is part of the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group. It holds monthly events for product managers, founders and builders. The events cover how AI changes product work.
A Denver Drupal user group. It meets at the denhac hackerspace. It holds talks and show-and-tell sessions on Drupal. It also covers related web topics such as AI tools and vector search.
Colorado Game Developers Association + AR/VR Group
A game developer and AR/VR group. It serves the Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs areas. It meets about monthly. It welcomes developers, artists, musicians and writers.
In Startup Resources: Colorado Game Developers Association + AR/VR Group
A Colorado Product Foundation meetup for tech product managers in Boulder and Denver. It holds regular talks, happy hours and coworking sessions. Its events help with networking, problem solving and career development.
A volunteer-run nonprofit hackerspace in Denver. It has a classroom and prototyping tools, including 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines and welders. It also holds Tuesday open houses and public classes.
A Denver group for AI developers with tech talks, study jams and code labs. Topics include generative AI, LLMs, machine learning and data science. Its recent sessions are held online.
A Denver network of entrepreneurs, from startups to established companies. Members share experiences, connections and knowledge at in-person events. The events include talks on hard-learned startup lessons.
A Denver community. Founders learn and apply Lean Startup tips and tools together.
A Denver group for aspiring and experienced tech founders. It holds free events on startup ideas, legal basics, pitching and fundraising. It also gives feedback on your idea. Recent sessions are online.
A Denver-listed Meetup group for entrepreneurs, technologists and investors. It now promotes free online events from other organizers. Most of those events are on job searching and AI skills.
Denver Tech & Design Community
A Denver tech and design community for people in or entering the industry. It holds in-person events around the city. Examples are vibe coding nights and combined AI and product meetups.
Entrepreneurs' Organization Colorado
Colorado chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization, a global peer-to-peer network. It has forums, events and learning programs for established business owners. EO's Accelerator program is for early-stage entrepreneurs.
Google Developer Group (Denver)
A Google Developer Group for Denver developers and others interested in Google technologies. Topics include Flutter, Gemini, Chrome and Android. It offers talks, co-hosted online sessions and DevFest events.
A Denver community, now named Denver Enterprise AI. It is for developers, architects and tech leaders who build and deploy AI inside enterprises. It has practitioner talks and online sessions.
Denver group for practicing pitches, speaking and presentations in front of an audience.
A Denver product management meetup. It has in-person and virtual speaker sessions, hands-on workshops and social hours. It also has a leadership series on how AI is changing product work.
A Denver networking group for internet professionals and tech enthusiasts. It is now Digital Denver. It hosts joint happy hours with the Denver Marketers group for developers, designers, marketers and entrepreneurs.
A Denver group that teaches blockchain basics. It also covers related topics like cryptocurrency and Web3.
A Denver meetup from Colorado Startups. It has monthly networking gatherings. It also has Startup Ski Days for founders.
The nonprofit Denver chapter of TiE, a global entrepreneur network. It serves founders in every industry and stage. It offers mentoring, networking, education, funding and incubation programs.
Events, pitch nights and hackathons
Denver Tech Meetup Group Startup Pitch Events
Casual happy hours in Denver for people who work in tech, including founders and startups.
In Startup Resources: Denver Tech Meetup Group Startup Pitch Events
An Ethereum festival in Denver. It has talks, workshops, a hackathon and side events. It is for builders and founders.
A hackathon or maker community in Denver.
Live talk night in Denver where anyone with an idea gives a short talk over self-advancing slides.
A Denver event series for women entrepreneurs. At each event, a guest speaker shares what they are building and why.
Coworking spaces
Shared workspaces where founders rent a desk or an office.
A Denver coworking space. It has private offices, dedicated desks and meeting rooms. It is for emerging founders and small businesses.
A coworking space on Lincoln Street in downtown Denver. It has day passes, flexible and dedicated desks, private offices and conference rooms. It also offers virtual office services.
A coworking space south of Denver. It has shared desks in Englewood and individual offices in Littleton. It also has day passes, meeting rooms and a podcast studio.
An alliance of coworking operators and community managers in Greater Denver. The group meets every few weeks to share practices. It has a directory of member workspaces across the metro area.
A coworking space with locations in Denver's RiNo neighborhood and Greenwood Village. It has private office suites, dedicated desks, and floater and virtual memberships. It has conference rooms and rooftop event space.
A founders' club for serial entrepreneurs in Greenwood Village. It has memberships from coworking to furnished office suites. It also has shared work and meeting spaces and a gym.
A workspace at RiNo Station in Denver. It has private offices behind closed doors for small and large teams. It also has shared kitchens, event spaces and outdoor areas.
Coworking space in Denver.
A workspace company with a Denver LoDo location. It offers private offices, coworking and drop-in desks. It also offers meeting and event space and virtual office services.
A coworking company. It has locations in Denver's Golden Triangle, Alamo Placita and downtown Littleton. It offers private and team offices, coworking and dedicated desks. It also has meeting rooms and event space.
A Denver-owned coworking company. It has sites in Arvada, Denver's Ballpark and Cherry Creek, Castle Rock and Centennial. It has private offices and dedicated desks. It has day passes, meeting rooms and a podcast studio.
Investors
A listing is not a recommendation, so ask other founders about an investor before you pitch.
Angel groups
An angel group. It trains diverse new investors through a learning-by-doing fund. It also backs high-growth impact companies.
Seed and early rounds
An early-stage venture capital firm in Denver and Dallas. It invests in startups with AI and disruptive software at their core. It covers the future of work, enterprise and industry.
A Denver lender. It offers non-dilutive growth loans to established B2B software and tech-enabled services businesses in North America. The businesses range from bootstrapped through Series B.
A Denver venture capital firm backing Colorado companies. The companies have scalable business models and a commitment to their communities. It works in clean energy, education, healthcare, natural foods and technology.
Seed-stage venture capital firm in Denver.
A thesis-driven venture capital firm in Denver. It invests in the technologies and platforms of interactive entertainment, deep tech and critical industries.
A Denver seed fund run by founders. It backs pre-seed and seed companies in the real economy.
A Denver seed-stage venture firm. It writes the first institutional check for deep tech founders in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. It invests across energy, biotech, aerospace and quantum.
A venture capital firm in Denver. It invests in emerging healthcare technology companies. The companies put access to and control over medical care in the hands of patients.
An early-stage venture fund. It invests in startups nationwide in AI, SaaS, hardware, fintech, aerospace and robotics.
Growth rounds
An early-stage venture capital firm. It has offices in Westminster and Denver. It invests at seed and Series A in SaaS, cybersecurity and marketplace startups.
A venture capital firm in Denver. It invests in enterprise software companies at an early growth stage. Its companies are built on applied artificial intelligence.
A healthcare and life sciences venture capital firm. It helps entrepreneurs build companies. It has locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Jackson, Wyoming.
A Denver venture capital firm. It invests in energy and industrial technology firms. That includes energy tech products and services.
An investment group in Greenwood Village. It invests in healthcare and healthcare technology companies. It now focuses on digital health, wellness and platform businesses.
A private equity or specialty financing firm in Denver.
The investment arm of Liberty Global, now called Liberty Growth. Its Denver and Silicon Valley team invests in early-stage technology companies. Each one fits its operating businesses.
Venture capital firm for Series C rounds in Denver.
A venture capital firm. It co-invests in seed and Series A rounds. It invests alongside institutional venture firms. It uses regional funds, including one for the Rocky Mountain region.
A Denver investment firm. It backs entrepreneurs who build regenerative food and agriculture firms. It weighs soil health and ecological impact. It weighs financial returns too.
Funding and support programs
Offices and programs that help local businesses start and grow. For statewide programs, see How to start a company in Colorado.
Denver Economic Development & Opportunity
A City of Denver hub for small business support. It offers one-on-one advising, city programs and funding. It also has start-a-business workshops. It gives workforce help to jobseekers and employers.
In Startup Resources: Denver Economic Development & Opportunity
Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
A Denver metro chamber of commerce. It has networking groups for its members. Its leadership programs are for emerging and senior executives. It also holds events on regional economic issues.
A group that represents Denver's center city. It works with businesses and community partners on downtown's economy, public spaces and events. It also publishes a report on downtown data.
Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute
A Denver nonprofit lender that helps entrepreneurs. It works in the metro area and across Colorado. Its classes, workshops, mentorship and accessible capital help them test, launch or grow a business.
A SCORE chapter for Metro Denver, Northern Colorado and southeast Wyoming. It offers free, confidential business mentoring. It also has free or low-cost workshops. Both are for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Universities
Universities and colleges that Startup Resources lists as support for founders.
Metropolitan State University of Denver
A Denver university and Hispanic-Serving Institution with lifelong learning. Its colleges cover aerospace, computing, engineering and design. More colleges cover health and human sciences, and letters, arts and sciences.
In Startup Resources: Metropolitan State University of Denver
A Jesuit Catholic university in Denver. It offers degrees and programs across its colleges and schools.
A university in Denver. It has research, internships, service learning and study abroad. Its 4D Experience is for building careers and lives of purpose.
Nearby in Photon Mountain
Startup Resources lists 8 more in Golden, Longmont and Louisville, other towns in Photon Mountain, as of . Boulder has its own guide.
Accelerators and incubators
A network of mentors, advisors and fractional executives in Golden. Its members guide startup founders and business owners. The network works with partners such as the Colorado School of Mines.
Where founders meet
A makerspace in Longmont. It has shared tools, equipment and classes for members and the community.
Coworking spaces
A Golden coworking space. It has locations in the historic Armory building downtown, near Red Rocks and in Genesee. It offers private offices, reserved desks, coworking, meeting rooms and member events.
A coworking space in the foothills between Golden and Evergreen. It has open and private offices and phone booths. It also has conference rooms for half-day or full-day rental, and networking events.
Funding and support programs
Longmont Economic Development Partnership
A Longmont economic development partnership. It leads a joint strategy to strengthen the city's economic health. It shares updates on local jobs, events and housing.
In Startup Resources: Longmont Economic Development Partnership
Louisville Chamber of Commerce
The Louisville chamber of commerce. It connects, advocates for and promotes local businesses through membership, sponsored programs and events.
McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
The Colorado School of Mines entrepreneurship and innovation network in Golden. It includes the McNeil Center, the Innovation Hub, makerspaces and tech transfer, for students, faculty and staff.
In Startup Resources: McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Universities
A public research university in Golden. It focuses on applied science and engineering. It has hands-on STEM education. That means lab work, field sessions and professional development.
More guides for founders
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Every list here comes from Startup Resources, which the community keeps current. If a Colorado resource for founders is missing, tell us. A person reviews every suggestion before it goes in.