Colorado and Utah Venture Capital Ecosystems Show Signs of Significant Growth
Fort Collins, Colorado– Innosphere Ventures, a science and technology-focused Incubator out of Fort Collins, is attending Northern Colorado’s (NoCo) Trade Mission to Salt Lake City Utah. The trade mission is designed to include government, business and non-profit leaders interested in advancing the Northern Colorado economy. During the Salt Lake trip, the group will be studying the startup ecosystem, economic development strategy, venture capital landscape, and overall economic health approaches of the region. In preparation for the event, Innosphere has released a comparative analysis of the Utah and Colorado Venture Capital ecosystems, showing evidence of rapid advancement in the last decade in both states.
Over the past decade, Colorado and Utah have consistently been among the fastest-growing VC ecosystems, with both states reaching the top 15 in the national ranking for VC deployment in 2021. Colorado and Utah raised $10 billion in venture capital funding across more than 650 total deals. Emerging VC hubs such as the Denver Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and the Salt Lake City MSA have continually led their respective states in total VC activity and provided an essential jumpstart to the VC ecosystems.
Colorado and Utah are states striving to position themselves as technology-based economic development engines. They are pursuing similar strategies: leverage university-created IP & commercialization, pursue targeted industries, and surround home-grown startups with advanced support and programming.
“Each state/region has an opportunity to begin building up more locally available venture capital. This is particularly important at the angel and seed stage as this is where technology companies benefit much more from local investors,” said Mike Freeman, Innosphere CEO. “It is also important to continue to advance the capacity of each State’s research universities and federal labs to accelerate commercial activity. Each state is securing significant federal grant funding in pursuit of new technology development, and accelerating that pathway to market for those opportunities will yield real economic results.”