Denver Startup Week

What Denver Startup Week does

Denver Startup Week, branded in recent operational materials as Colorado Startup Week (CSW), is a free, community-driven annual event organization founded in 2012 in Denver, Colorado. It produces a week-long celebration of entrepreneurship that, by its own description, is the largest event of its kind in North America, drawing over 10,000 founders, investors, creatives, and changemakers across more than 200 community events and 250 sessions organized into four thematic tracks (Ignite, Create, Operate, Grow). Programming spans main stage sessions, hands-on workshops in areas including AI, robotics, space, and quantum computing, live pitch competitions, founder panels, and networking events such as evening mixers and rooftop happy hours.

The organization operates a minimal proprietary technology stack — primarily a Squarespace marketing website and a Sched.com-powered self-serve registration and schedule-building platform — and does not build or sell technology products. Its business model is sponsorship-driven rather than ticket- or subscription-driven: the event is free to all attendees and is funded through tiered sponsor support (Titan, Visionary, Founder, Innovator, and Entrepreneur levels), with named flagship sponsors including Downtown Denver Partnership, Amazon Web Services, Axios Denver, 512 Financial, Denver Economic Development & Opportunity, Southwest Airlines, Molson Coors, EGYM Wellpass, Feed Media, and University of Colorado. Distribution is entirely community- and digital-led via the website, email, and an organic social media presence exceeding one million combined followers on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

The organization is a private, for-profit entity employing 11–50 staff, co-founded by Ben Deda (Co-Founder and Organizing Chair) and Erik Mitisek. It serves three primary persona segments — startup founders and entrepreneurs, investors and funders, and creatives and changemakers — with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or institutional ownership, and no public revenue figures. The 2026 edition is scheduled for September 14–18, 2026, indicating continued annual operational cadence.

Name

Denver Startup Week

Legal name

Colorado Startup Week

Website

https://denverstartupweek.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Denver Startup Week (branded Colorado Startup Week) is a free, community-driven annual event organization founded in 2012 that produces a week-long entrepreneurship gathering for founders, investors, and creatives, supported by tiered corporate and civic sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Community Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

akta.pro primary industry

Professional & Certification Expos Organizers (THAHABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH), Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)

Keywords

• Startup community events
• Entrepreneur networking events
• Pitch competition events
• Innovation conference series
• Festival event management

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship Revenue: Colorado Startup Week is funded through generous sponsor support across multiple tiers (Titan, Visionary, Founder, Innovator, and Entrepreneur sponsors). Sponsors include Downtown Denver Partnership, AWS, Axios Denver, 512 Financial, Denver Economic Development, Southwest Airlines, Molson Coors, EGYM Wellpass, Feed Media, and University of Colorado. The event remains free to attendees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Denver Startup Week is an annual, free-to-attend community-driven startup event held in Denver, Colorado, featuring session tracks, panels, workshops, keynote talks, networking mixers, and a flagship pitch competition with investor capital. Founded in 2012, it operates as a community gathering for founders, entrepreneurs, investors, and creatives across the Colorado and broader North American startup ecosystem.

Product overview

Colorado Startup Week is a single, unified annual event product—a free, community-driven celebration of bold ideas and entrepreneurial spirit across Colorado. The event is organized around four thematic session tracks (Ignite, Create, Operate, Grow) and features core programming including Main Stage sessions, live pitch competitions, founder panels, hands-on workshops, and community networking events. The product is designed to unite Colorado's entrepreneurial ecosystem, connecting founders, investors, creatives, and changemakers through hundreds of sessions spanning topics from robotics to fundraising. The event typically features over 200 community events with more than 10,000 annual attendees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Denver Startup Week Annual Event Annual free community-driven startup week event held in Denver, Colorado, featuring session tracks, panels, workshops, keynotes, and networking mixers for founders, entrepreneurs, investors, and creatives.
• Pitch Competition

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000+ attendees per annual event
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and general.

• Downtown Denver PartnershipflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTitan-level sponsor of Colorado Startup Week. The Downtown Denver Partnership is a key organization driving economic development and vitality in downtown Denver, making them a strategic partner in positioning Colorado as a startup hub.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTitan-level sponsor providing cloud infrastructure and technology support for the event. AWS's involvement signals the importance of cloud technology in the startup ecosystem.
• Axios DenvercoreGTM or Marketing PartnerVisionary-level sponsor providing media coverage and promotion of Colorado Startup Week through local news reporting.
• Denver Economic Development & OpportunitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisionary-level sponsor representing the City and County of Denver's commitment to supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.
• Southwest AirlinescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisionary-level sponsor enabling attendance from across the country by supporting travel connectivity to Colorado.
• Molson CoorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisionary-level sponsor supporting the event, with their beverage products featured at community events and mixers.
• EGYM WellpasscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVisionary-level sponsor providing corporate wellness services and supporting the health and wellbeing of attendees.
• Feed MediageneralStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounder-level sponsor supporting the event as part of their marketing and community engagement strategy.
• University of ColoradogeneralStrategic or Co-development PartnerEntrepreneur-level sponsor representing higher education's commitment to fostering entrepreneurship and connecting students with the startup ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Startup Grind: Startup Grind runs a global community-driven calendar of startup events, conferences, and fireside chats connecting founders and investors. It mirrors CSW's community-led, sponsor-supported model on a global scale, making it one of the closest direct analogs.
• LA Tech Week: LA Tech Week is a community-organized, sponsor-backed week of startup events across the LA tech ecosystem. It is structurally nearly identical to CSW (free, community-led, sponsor-funded, multi-track), making it a strong direct peer.
• NY Tech Week: NY Tech Week is a community-organized, sponsor-supported startup week held annually in New York. Same free, community-led, multi-event format as CSW and competes with it for sponsor and founder attention across the broader US market.

Broad incumbents

• TechCrunch Disrupt: TechCrunch Disrupt is the largest tech/startup conference in the US, featuring pitch competitions, founder panels, and investor connectivity. It is the incumbent global counterpart to CSW and competes for the same founders, sponsors, and mindshare, though at much larger scale.
• Web Summit: Web Summit is one of the world's largest tech conferences (Lisbon, Toronto, Qatar, Rio), with multiple parallel tracks, large sponsor presence, and tens of thousands of attendees. Comparable to CSW in structure, scale ambition, and sponsor-dependency business model.
• SXSW: SXSW is the long-running Austin-based festival that combines music, film, and a large startup/tech track with sponsor activations. Comparable to CSW in offering founders and investors a multi-day, multi-track entrepreneurship experience with heavy corporate sponsorship.

Others

• General Assembly: General Assembly is a global education and career-transition platform for tech and entrepreneurship skills with event programming. Adjacent rather than competitive; useful comparison for monetization of training/workshop content alongside a flagship event.
• Denver Economic Development & Opportunity (DEDO): Denver's economic development agency is both a Visionary sponsor of CSW and the public-sector counterpart building the founder/employer pipeline. An ecosystem stakeholder rather than direct competitor, but materially relevant for understanding sponsor-side counterparties.

Emerging players

• Techweek: Techweek operates multi-city technology conferences and startup-focused events with sponsor activations. Comparable in offering a structured, sponsor-supported startup event series, though typically ticketed rather than free like CSW.
• Miami Tech Week: Miami Tech Week is a relatively newer community-organized startup event week. Comparable community-driven, sponsor-funded model; smaller but rapidly scaling, with similar target audience of founders and investors in a regional hub.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/DenverStartupWeek
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/denver-startup-week
• Instagraminstagram.com/costartupweek
• Xx.com/denstartupweek

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Denver Startup Week