The annual Colorado Capital Conference is now in its 28th year and will take place on November 15th and 16th at the McNichols Building in Downtown Denver. In the past the conference has hosted such speakers as Basil Peters, author of the book “Early Exits”, Kevin Reddy, the CEO who brought Noodles & Company public, and Governor John Hickenlooper.
This year the conference will focus on the theme of venture capital and alternative financing. While Venture Capital is key to launching many great startups, there are ways to mix and match different sources of funding that will allow companies to maintain a high growth rate while holding down their financing costs and minimizing dilution for founders and investors. The conference will feature pitches from eight investment-ready companies, two expert-filled panels, and a keynote address.
This year, the keynote address will feature Scott Bergquist and Sean Lawson both from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Silicon Valley Bank is a U.S. based high-tech commercial bank with offices in a number of other countries. Since its founding in 1982 SVB has helped fund more than 30,000 start-ups. Together Scott and Sean will discuss what they have have seen work when mixing venture capital and other financing sources such as typical loans, and venture debt. In addition to the keynote address there will be two panels filled with thought leaders, startup experts, and governmental advocates.
This year the conference will feature eleven early-stage companies that are raising growth capital. These include:
Ascent360 has developed a SaaS-based Customer Data Platform (CDP) that helps drive incremental revenue and reduce marketing costs for mid-sized retailers, brands and resorts.
Bold Betties is a technology-enabled women’s adventure platform that takes the intimidation out of outdoor adventure for mainstream women.
Comsero designs and builds unique products that inspire creativity and cultivate collaboration.
dBMEDx is a medical device company that is fighting hospital acquired infections by bringing an innovative bladder scanner to market.
Earth Index is a software company helping Oil & Gas Companies & Investors reduce risk for more profitable Exploration & Production (E&P) Decisions.
GeoVisual solves the fresh produce farmer’s fundamental problem of balancing crop supply with customer demand in spite of variability in weather, pests, weeds and disease.
Happy Food Co is a turn-key service that brings meal kits to the mass market through a partner distribution network.
Main Street Exchange is a web-based financing platform with a first-to-market automated compliance engine.
Orderly Health helps employers save money by directing their employees to the lowest cost options for healthcare using a smart text messaging platform powered by artificial intelligence.
Sitter is an app that allows parents to book and pay their own babysitters and find new sitters through friends.
STOW is a peer to peer marketplace disrupting the storage and parking industries. Users with extra space can make it available for rent.
Read the full descriptions at www.coloradocapitalconferene.org/companies/
Rockies Venture Club Executive Director, Peter Adams states, “the Colorado Capital Conference is always exciting because of the connections made between entrepreneurs and angel investors and VCs. This years’ theme helps both investors and entrepreneurs to understand how to structure complex deals for everyone’s advantage.”
With high caliber speakers and quality companies this will be a Colorado Capital Conference to remember.