Last week, Startup Colorado hit the road to Sterling for the kickoff of our 2025 Pitch Series. Hosted in partnership with the Logan County Economic Development Corporation, this event marked the first of our ongoing series designed to spotlight rural entrepreneurs and help them access critical funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities.
The Sterling event was about more than just the pitch competition. Over two days, entrepreneurs, community members, and ecosystem builders came together for Startup Colorado’s Roadtrip programming, which focused on funding and technical assistance. Attendees had the opportunity to explore the Funding Canvas business model, hear reverse pitches directly from funders and investors, contribute to meaningful advocacy conversations, and connect with peers and mentors during a dedicated networking event.
At the heart of the event was the pitch competition itself. Finalists took the stage to share their businesses with an audience of investors, mentors, and peers. The pitches demonstrated a clear problem-solution fit paired with strong founder vision and traction.
The Startup Colorado Pitch Competition in Sterling offered a well-rounded award package, including an interest-free, crowdfunded loan campaign through Kiva with $5,000 in seed funding from Startup Colorado to launch it, in-kind marketing and legal services, and dedicated mentoring sessions. Startup Colorado will also tap into its growing Advisor Network—originally developed for our Founder Coopetition program—to provide ongoing support.
“In addition to their individual prizes, we also encouraged all of the finalists to take advantage of Kiva’s crowdfunding loan campaigns,” Brittany Romano, Executive Director at Startup Colorado said. “Programs like this are a critical first step in accessing capital, obtaining validation, and demonstrating that the companies can repay their financial obligations.”
We are excited to announce the four winners of the Sterling competition:
Sarah Berkeley, Symbiosis Gear: $5K Kiva crowdfunding campaign contribution from Startup Colorado
Symbiosis Gear is a women-owned backpacking gear company founded by long-distance hiker Sarah Berkeley in Leadville. They are the only brand dedicated to creating gear specifically designed for femme bodies, addressing the discomfort and injuries caused by backpacks built for men. By putting women’s needs first, they’re not just making better gear; they’re creating a sense of belonging and equity in the outdoor industry.
Using the $5,000 contribution from Startup Colorado, Berkeley will launch a crowdfunded loan campaign on Kiva. She aims to raise $20K to create new prototypes and build brand awareness. Startup Colorado will be launching her Kiva campaign soon. Stay tuned for the announcement!
Erwin Germain, TreadShare: Brand audit + legal services
After seeing how widely used carpooling apps were in Europe, French founder Erwin Germain—now based in Frisco—recognized an opportunity to introduce a similar service to the U.S. market. TreadShare is a mobile app that connects drivers and riders heading in the same direction, making carpooling seamless with cost-sharing, live reservations, and instant messaging. By reducing solo trips, TreadShare promotes cost savings, sustainability, and community connectivity.
Erwin will receive a brand audit from Magic Marketing in Frisco, whose team will support his expansion into the B2C market. Startup Colorado is also connecting Erwin with Nathan Lawrence from Principle Law in Salida. Principle Law specializes in providing early-stage legal guidance, helping entrepreneurs choose the right business structure and prepare for various types of investment, ensuring long-term flexibility. We believe Erwin has a bright future—TreadShare is one of the only carpooling app founders currently active in Colorado, and potentially one of the few in the entire U.S.
Paul Bierman, Power Tool Safe: Mentor matching with BEN Colorado
Based in Montrose, founder Paul Bierman launched Power Tool Safe to give builders a fast and simple way to keep track of their tools. Power Tool Safe is a new platform harnessing the power of real-time information to secure valuable serialized products and enable over 700,000 law enforcement officers and 11,000 pawn shops to disrupt an ever-growing pandemic of theft.
Paul will be connected with the Bridge Entrepreneur Network (BEN Colorado), which boasts one of the strongest advisor networks in the State. With this additional support from BEN Colorado, we believe he can nail down his product-market fit and lean into his existing expansion and scaling roadmap. BEN Colorado and Startup Colorado will also stage a 90-minute Board Meeting for Paul to dig into his business model.
James Mataczynski, Craft Crate: Startup Colorado Board session
Bailey founder James Mataczynski launched Craft Crate to offer brewers an affordable way to package their own beer in-house. Craft Crate is a patented bag in box packaging system that allows craft breweries to package their beer easier and cheaper than traditional methods for distribution. To the consumers, it’s boxed beer!
James will also participate in a Startup Colorado Board Meeting, facilitated by our Advisor Network. This session will enable James and his team to review some of their challenges and opportunities. Building a team of advisors is going to be incredibly useful for this small but mighty team behind Craft Crate.
Supporting Founders in their Funding Journey
Since launching our Roadtrip event series, Startup Colorado has gathered extensive feedback to better understand the real-world challenges founders face in funding their businesses. A significant portion of respondents (28%) indicated that an initial investment of $15,000–$25,000 would enable meaningful progress in their company’s growth.
This insight underscores the need for greater awareness and education around accessing early-stage capital. Including Kiva’s interest-free loan campaigns in our pitch competition prize package was a strategic way to demonstrate the range of funding opportunities available to rural founders—to those on stage and in the audience.
“Programs like Kiva show that we can support and invest in each other’s ideas to be part of a broader, catalytic movement—one where entrepreneurship and local investment drive meaningful impact in our communities,” Romano said.
Now that the pitch competition finalists are in our network, we will be sure to track their progress and do our best to ensure they have fast access to resources.
If you are an entrepreneur and you aren’t sure how to access your local ecosystem, you can contact us and we can get you started.
What’s Next in the Startup Colorado Pitch Series
The Sterling stop set a high bar for the Startup Colorado Pitch Series. Next up: Durango, where more rural entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to pitch, connect, and grow. Through this series, Startup Colorado aims to generate more than $2 million in new deal flow between entrepreneurs, investors, and community stakeholders by the end of 2026. We anticipate that the Durango Pitch application will open in July.
To learn more about upcoming pitch competitions, sign up for our weekly newsletter or join our free online community for rural founders.
Finally, a special thanks to our supporters:
- Our pitch coach Jolene Collins who provided 1:1 guidance to all finalists
- Prairie Rose Development
- Northeast Junior College
- Parts & Labor Brewing Company
- Mike Blecha from AnywhereCam
- Principle Law in Salida
- Magic Marketing in Frisco
- Craft Mountain Brewery
- Energize Colorado
- The Block
Join us in empowering rural entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders to achieve even more in 2025. 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?
