Denver Startup Week Sets New Record of 17,500 Registered Attendees

September 27, 2017

The Downtown Denver Partnership co-founded and leads the production of Denver Startup Week as part of our commitment to driving innovation and entrepreneurship forward in our center city. This effort to create an environment where Downtown Denver is the best place in the country to start and grow a business is critical to our economic development strategy.

Denver Startup Week, the largest free entrepreneurial event of its kind in North America, announced today that more than 17,500 people have registered to attend more than 350 programs, a new milestone to continue to solidify the sixth annual event as the largest free entrepreneurial event in North America. People can still register to attend Denver Startup Week events, which will continue at locations throughout Downtown Denver through Friday, Sept. 29. The number of registrants is a 31 percent increase from the previous record of 13,334 registered attendees set in 2016.

Denver Startup Week co-founders Ben Deda, vice president of marketing at Vertafore, Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership, and Erik Mitisek, president at IMAgine Analytics, applaud Denver’s entrepreneurial community for bringing unparalleled leadership, community and education and resources to the event again this year:

“Denver Startup Week is truly a celebration of everything entrepreneurial in Denver, and we continue to reinforce that Downtown Denver is the best place in the country to start and grow a business. The strength in numbers we see at Denver Startup Week is a high-impact showcase of the generosity of our entrepreneurial ecosystem and thriving culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.”

2017 Denver Startup Week “By the Numbers” so far also include:

  • 713 center city tech startups, including 170 founded in the past year, employ 4,875 people, according to the Downtown Denver Startup Report released Monday
  • The event is telling a powerful story of Downtown Denver’s culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on social media, with the hashtag #DENStartupWeek trending with more than 60 million impressions that have reached around the globe.
  • Denver Startup Week is supported by more than 1,000 community members, session presenters and volunteers.
  • More than 70 sponsors, including title sponsors Aging 2.0, Chase for Business, Comcast, the Downtown Denver Partnership and WeWork, support the event.
  • 100 Companies are hiring at the Startup Week Job Fair and Showcase, sponsored by Spectrum, Wednesday, 9/27 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
  • 124 companies applied to be part of the Denver Startup Week Pitch Challenge (Pitch), sponsored by Project X-ITE, The Cable Center and WeWork and finalists will pitch live at Denver Startup Week on Sept. 27 before the champion is crowned at the final Pitch Challenge at Basecamp on Sept. 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. The winner of the Pitch will receive over $100,000 in cash and prizes.
  • 50 Denver Startup Week Ambassadors attended the event from across the United States in a program geared towards showcasing Downtown Denver to individuals, companies and communities across the country. More than 400 people applied to be part of the program in its first year, a strong signal of the national interest in Denver as a technology and innovation hub.
  • 5,500 people visited Basecamp, launched by Chase for Business, during the first two days of Denver Startup Week
  • 1,039 events were submitted to the Denver Startup Week organizing committee and nearly 30,000 votes were cast to help identify the final schedule of more than 350 programs.

Denver Startup Week is focused on highlighting Denver as an entrepreneurial center on the local, regional and national stage, while enhancing community and providing resources for the startup community. The event has grown from 70 events and 3,500 attendees from its first year in 2012.

Stay connected to Denver Startup Week at www.DenverStartupWeek.org, by following #DENStartupWeek and #ChaseBasecamp on social media: @DENStartupWeek and @BasecampLiveDEN on Twitter, liking the DSW Facebook page and following us on Instagram.

Click here for photos from this year’s event.

About Denver Startup Week:
Denver Startup Week, founded in 2012, is a celebration of everything entrepreneurial in Denver.  The weeklong event is intended to unite the entrepreneurial community in Denver and celebrate the great companies, innovation and ideas happening in the city and the people and inspiration behind them. The core programming is centered on the entrepreneurial community with an emphasis in technology, design, social entrepreneurship, manufacturing and business.  Events throughout the week are organized by both the Denver Startup Week Organizing Committee and the community at-large and include sessions, presentations, panels, workshops, happy hours, social events, job fairs and more. Denver Startup Week Title Sponsors are Aging 2.0, Chase for Business, Comcast, Downtown Denver Partnership and WeWork.

For more information, visit www.DenverStartupWeek.org.