It’s home to a major state university. It’s one of Colorado’s most productive agricultural and energy-production regions. And it has a population over 100,000. Yet Greeley experiences many of the same resource gaps that founders in even smaller rural communities face everyday. We think it’s an overlooked player in the state’s rural startup scene with big potential.
That’s why we hosted the “season finale” of our 2025-26 Startup Colorado Roadtrip, an event series targeting the resource gap for small business owners and entrepreneurs. (Don’t worry! “Season 2” is on its way. We’ll get to that in a minute.)
The two-day event was like a mini startup week with themed subject-matter tracks, featuring speakers with expertise in capital, marketing, and technology. We welcomed representatives from both the state government—including State Treasurer Dave Young—as well as prominent founders from across the state who shared their journey with attendees.
“The Weld County Roadtrip stop was a fitting conclusion to the event series,” said Vanessa McCrann, Startup Colorado’s Managing Director and Roadtrip lead organizer. “We pulled together a mix of entrepreneurs and business support organizations from across the region, building better connectivity and addressing urgent gaps impacting local founders.”
Roadtrip Recap
Startup Colorado was born on the road. From the beginning, our team believed that startup ecosystem development could only be successful if rooted in place. That meant we logged thousands of miles, crossing the state and meeting rural founders and ecosystem builders in person. We listened. We learned. And we supported existing startup community efforts, only creating new opportunities when there was a clear gap and demand.
In that way, we experienced first hand the importance of “meeting founders where they’re at” and providing guidance tailored to their needs.
The 2025-26 Roadtrip was a direct extension of that founding spirit. In partnership with the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade (OEDIT), the program brought free programming directly to rural founders throughout the year. While the energy and connectivity of in-person events cannot be denied, Rural Colorado is a big place. To ensure we reached as many communities as possible, we offered both in-person and online events.
The Roadtrip exists to make those connections happen, one stop at a time.
The 2025-26 series included:
- 22 online and in-person events
- 1,000 founders reached across 54 communities, including West Slope Startup Week in Durango and Rural Startup Days in La Junta
- 96 speakers who shared their expertise
- 51 hours of free programming delivered to entrepreneurs who might otherwise have had to travel hours to access it
Key Moments from the 2025-26 Startup Colorado Roadtrip
Pitch Competition Kicks Off in Sterling
In spring 2025, Startup Colorado partnered with the Logan County Economic Development Corporation to bring the first in-person pitch competition of the Roadtrip to Sterling. Over two days, entrepreneurs, ecosystem builders, and community members gathered for programming focused on funding and technical assistance; capped off by a pitch competition that put four rural founders in front of investors, mentors, and peers.
The event gave founders national exposure, and the winners walked away with a mix of Kiva loan matching contributions, brand audits, legal services, and dedicated mentorship through Startup Colorado’s Advisor Network. The finalists represented the breadth of rural innovation: from women’s-specific backpacking gear and a carpooling app to a power tool security platform and a patented craft beer packaging system. Read our recap here.
Microgrants in Southeast Colorado
At Rural Startup Days in La Junta, Startup Colorado partnered with Three Corners Connector to award five SECO Business Boost Grants of $800 each — $4,000 total — to local businesses with immediate needs. The awardees ranged from:
- a woman-owned kava bar
- a trades startup with a workforce development vision
- an agricultural producer
- a community bowling alley
- and a makerspace that has already helped launch multiple local startups and patents.
A Speaker Mix That Worked
At Rural Startup Days, Startup Colorado struck a deliberate balance: roughly half the speaker roster came from outside the region, bringing expertise in areas like AI and digital marketing, while the other half were local entrepreneurs at various stages of building their businesses. That combination gave attendees something fresh to learn while also putting a spotlight on the talent already present in Southeast Colorado — giving local founders a platform to tell their stories on equal footing.
Cultivating Startup Ecosystem Leadership
Like many of our Roadtrip stops, the Greeley event surfaced something promising: a handful of community members who have the relationships, the drive, and the local credibility to help champion future programming in the region.
Grassroots leadership is central to how rural startup ecosystem development works.
While statewide or even national organizations play a role in supporting startup ecosystems, ultimately it’s the communities themselves that must put skin in the game. Sustainable startup communities are the result of local leadership—a role most often played by an entrepreneur!
(That’s why the folks on the Startup Colorado team are entrepreneurs in their past, current, and future lives).
In Greeley—along with our other in-person stops—the opportunity is there. And the investment Startup Colorado made by showing up is already displaying the potential for future growth.
Learn more about building rural startup communities here.
What’s next for the Startup Colorado Roadtrip?
You know what they say: the road goes on forever and the party never ends! Or something like that.
This summer, Startup Colorado will host a series of virtual sessions beginning in June, offering rural founders a mix of informational programming and hands-on workshops. These sessions are designed to keep the momentum going between in-person events… and build toward something bigger.
This September, Startup Colorado will launch a five-week virtual Capital Bootcamp, giving rural entrepreneurs a structured, in-depth look at funding: how to find it, how to ask for it, and how to be ready when the opportunity comes. While the bootcamp is virtual, communities are encouraged to organize local watch parties, turning an online experience into a live, communal one.
Founders who complete all five workshops will receive a certificate of completion for use in their next lending application.
Further down the road, Startup Colorado will bring our event programming to West Slope Startup Week 2026, with business assistance and information sessions for founders across the region.
Year 2 of the Roadtrip is driven by a simple conviction that rural founders deserve the same quality of support as anyone building a company in Denver or Boulder. The road ahead is long, and Startup Colorado intends to drive every mile of it.
Join us in empowering rural entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders to achieve even more in 2026. Contributions of any amount directly power our mission to build a sustainable statewide network of resources supporting rural entrepreneurs, so that people and places can thrive and chart their own futures! Will you help us?
