Denver's Colorado Capital Conference Explores the Future of Startups
The Rockies Venture Club is hosting the Colorado Capital Conference August 24 - 26. Now in its 33rd year, the Conference is bringing together startup leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs from across the country.
DENVER, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Colorado Capital Conference, focusing on the Future of Startups, is taking place in Denver on August 24-26, 2021, with a live reception and awards ceremony in Denver, CO and the remaining pitches, speakers and content virtually, on-line over the 25th and 26th.
The past decade, and especially this past year of COVID havoc, have changed startups in countless ways that will alter how startups and investors work together from now on. Startups and investors today need to understand how the new landscape is very different from the norms of even 2020. At the Colorado Capital Conference, we'll be doing a deep dive into five of the biggest trends including:
Increase in diversity in startups. Investors have complained that they don't see founders of color in their investment pipeline – but that's a problem with the pipeline that needs fixing. Startups and investors have learned that diversity isn't just a nice to have demographic box to check, but that diversity actually creates stronger and smarter companies. Gregory Campbell will speak on what investors can do to increase diversity in their pipelines and portfolios.
Environment and Social Governance (ESG) has been a growing focus for public companies and now venture fund Limited Partners, and consequently venture funds themselves, are learning to focus on how their portfolio companies are working within ESG principles. This isn't just "impact investing", it's ALL startups that are now being asked to identify and measure ESG within their companies. Startups – get ready for this!
Capital Strategies have completely changed the way startups thinking about capital resources, timing, scaling and exit strategies. SPACs, (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) have made the path to being a public company much easier, but they're not without controversy. Investors in later stages are demanding faster growth rates and are willing to put hundreds of millions or billions behind fast growing companies. This results in a longer path to exit, but much bigger exits when they do happen. Just becoming a unicorn is no longer enough – investors want decacorns!
The Future of Work is changing how startups operate with distributed teams, Zoom meetings, SaaS based project management, variable work hours, co-working spaces instead of offices, new concerns about cyber security and much more. All of these trends add up to faster moving, more nimble startups. If you're signing a five year lease as a startup, you might as well just close up shop today!
Startups are going international now more than ever. International funding syndicates are becoming more common and investors are finding ways to do cross-border deals while maintaining tax breaks and legal protections. Investor organizations like EBAN (European Business Angel Network) and the Angel Capital Association are working on partnerships to provide international funding to early stage companies. Many companies are coming to the U.S. and specifically to Colorado to take advantage of the large market here that facilitates their growth and scaling. While startups need to focus on their key markets, it's getting easier and easier for them to go international at an early stage.
The Colorado Capital Conference spans three days and will have a kickoff from Denver Startup Week founder Erik Mitisek and Elyse Kent from Access Venture Partners laying out key trends that they see in Colorado's startup scene. Peter Adams, Executive Director of the Rockies Venture Club, host of the Colorado Capital Conference, says "We're excited to have such a great range of speakers from Colorado and around the world at this event, along with great startup pitches. The ideas presented here will be critical to the success of both startups and angel investors."
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. To register or learn more about the Colorado Capital Conference, please visit http://www.coloradocapitalconference.org.
The conference is open to the public and free to RVC active, corporate and keystone members. Visit http://www.rockiesvc.org to register or for more information on membership options.
About the Rockies Venture Club: Rockies Venture Club is the longest running and one of the largest Angel Groups in the U.S.A., founded in 1985, whose mission is to advance economic development by actively connecting investments with the most promising entrepreneurial companies with Angel investors, venture capitalists, and other community members. Every year Rockies Venture Club offers over 140 educational programs, mastermind groups, Angel forums, and two major conferences for both investors and entrepreneurs leading to 25 investments per year.
Media Contact
Emily Klein, Rockies Venture Club, 9259183926, [email protected]
SOURCE Rockies Venture Club
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