Why We Built It
The purpose of Engage Colorado is to support Colorado's Journey to Become the World's Top Innovation Ecosystem.
Most of our recent newsletters have focused on challenges — policies and rhetoric from our political leaders that have begun to drive capital, talent, and entrepreneurial energy away from the state. Those concerns are real, and we will continue to surface them.
Engage Colorado will also share the unique attributes that make Colorado a compelling innovation ecosystem. The foundational strength of Colorado is exceptional. It has been built up over the past two to three decades. The talent base, the research and university infrastructure, the leadership in sectors like quantum, space and aerospace, and digital infrastructure, the outdoor recreation economy, the cultural institutions — and now a meaningful base of on-the-ground capital — together make Colorado one of the most compelling places in the world to build a company. It is only in recent years that our political policies and rhetoric have created headwinds against that strength.
Colorado has the assets to be the number-one innovation ecosystem in the world. The question is whether our political leaders will lean into policies and rhetoric that help us attract more capital, more founders, and more companies — or whether they will continue to push them away.
Capital formation on the ground is critical. Founders who can find the capital they need without leaving the state stay. Companies that can grow without relocating their headquarters stay.
The Colorado Investor Directory is one small contribution to that flywheel. It makes the capital that is already here visible, and it makes the case for more.
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