This story was produced in partnership with the Howdy Partners, a fund that focuses on investing in innovative companies outside Colorado’s urban centers.
Venture capital accounts for less than 1% of all business financing in the United States. Of that small share, less than 1% reaches rural companies; despite evidence that rural businesses often demonstrate stronger survival rates than their urban counterparts.
When investment flows into a rural company—whether through venture capital, angel funding, or other sources—the effects can extend far beyond the business itself. New and often higher-paying jobs, capital investment in facilities and infrastructure, and the arrival of specialized expertise can spur additional development across the local economy. In rural areas, the impact of growth-stage capital is often amplified because smaller, more isolated economies allow each new job to punch above its weight.
Two recent examples of impactful, rural investment are Agile Space Industries in Durango and BOPA Precision Agriculture in Florence, Colorado, both of which are portfolio companies with Howdy Partners and recently closed substantial rounds.
Their latest funding marks a significant step in each company’s growth and signals confidence from investors in what they are building. It also creates an opportunity to look more closely at how growth-stage capital can strengthen rural businesses and, in turn, contribute to the economic resilience of the communities around them.
Agile Space Industries in Durango, Colorado
Initially launched as a chemical propulsion test services company in 2009, Agile Space Industries pivoted in 2019 to become an advanced in-space thruster manufacturer. In that year, they secured their first engine design contract with Lockheed Martin and closed their first round of funding with Howdy Partners (formerly the Greater Colorado Venture Fund).
Cory Finney, Managing Partner at Howdy, has been involved with Agile since the firm’s first investment. He said the company initially caught their attention because of founder Daudi Barnes’ deep industry knowledge and strong engineering expertise. The timing also mattered: new developments in additive manufacturing created an opportunity for Agile to move quickly from testing into design and manufacturing.
Since their initial $875K round in 2019, the company has gone on to raise several rounds of financing. The completion of their $19.6M Series A brings the total amount of capital the company has raised to over $41M. Additionally, the company has secured over $25M in non-dilutive funding, including several multimillion dollar engineering product development awards from Space Force.
That capital has helped the company expand its workforce and facilities in Durango, and acquire an additive manufacturing company in Pennsylvania. Last year, Agile also received $20 million from the City of Tulsa to open a second test site in Oklahoma.
“We booked $28 million in revenue last year,” Chris Pearson, CEO at Agile Space Industries, said. “And we’ve already secured enough new business this year without winning any more work to hit over $45 million in revenue. So we’ve been very, very capital efficient.”
The majority of Agile’s workforce remains in Durango, where the company employs 125 employees, including 70 jobs created in the region over the past three years. Pearson said those roles span entry-level, mid-career, and senior positions. Many entry-level employees have come from Fort Lewis College, drawing recent graduates who want to stay in the area. The company’s location has also helped attract more senior talent who see Durango as a great place to eventually retire.
“You walk around Durango, and people are talking about Agile,” Finney said. “We have this crazy concentration of aerospace folks hanging out in Durango.”
The company’s impact on the local community extends beyond job creation. Agile has invested approximately $9 million in capital expenditures in Durango and has become an active part of the local business community. The company has leaned into the local startup ecosystem via its regular support of West Slope Startup Week and mentoring opportunities.
“Through Howdy, I’ve been connected with other local founders, and been able to give them advice and support mentorship,” Pearson said.
Agile has also collaborated with the local economic development agency, and worked to ease zoning and permitting restrictions that could benefit other manufacturing companies.
Finney added that the company’s impact is also less tangible, pointing to the cultural significance of having an advanced aerospace company operating in town.
“We have friends with kids in high school here who can now say, ‘There’s a rocket company in my town.’ It opens up a whole new sense of possibility that hasn’t always existed here.”
BOPA Precision Agriculture in La Junta and Florence, Colorado
BOPA (Barn Owl Precision Agriculture) is a farmer-led technology company that designs and manufactures autonomous nano-tractors (ANTs) for small and mid-size farms, helping automate weeding and spraying tasks.
“They’ve been farming their entire lives. They speak ‘farmer,’” Finney said. “There’s a lot of really overbuilt technical solutions that don’t actually connect with the farmer’s need or demand, and so the fact that this team was building a solution from the eyes of a farmer was different than what we saw in the market.”
Founded by siblings Sarah and Jaron Hinkley, and Sarah’s husband Bryan Stafford, BOPA launched in 2017 as a drone services company that helped farmers identify common issues such as pest, blight, or water shortage. Two years later, the company pivoted to address one of the most pressing challenges facing small and mid-size farms: labor shortages.
At the outset, the small team bootstrapped the company before raising a friends-and-family round. That initial $185,000 helped fund development of the first prototype, which had already generated numerous purchase orders from farmers across the state. With that early technology in place, BOPA connected with Howdy in 2021 to secure additional funding for manufacturing the robots.
“They wrote a small $50,000 check and said, ‘Go build it,’” Sarah said. “And then we went and built it.”
Once the company had established enough proof points, it returned to Howdy, which later invested an additional $250,000 with several other investors joining the pre-seed round. In the following years, they raised an additional round of $1.2 million, followed by numerous SAFEs. In 2021, BOPA secured a $200,000 Advanced Industries Grant from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. In total, Howdy has invested $1M into BOPA.
Between 2020 and 2025, the BOPA team leveraged that investment to perfect the ANTs system. Sarah described “fast iterations, fast feedback, and fast failing” before eventually solidifying their product.
Their current raise was oversubscribed at $3.5 million and was led by Farmers Capital Fund and Serra Ventures with SCAPE, the CORI Innovation Fund, and several others following on.
Today, the company offers a subscription-based service centered on the ANTs system, along with training, support, and planning. They serve customers across Colorado and in several other states, including Minnesota through a collaboration with Bayer Crop Sciences. The company has created 13 rural tech jobs in Florence and La Junta, a handful in the Denver area, and is now working toward a regional hub model, with support centers serving different agricultural areas.
BOPA’s mission is rooted in supporting farmers, especially at a time when many small and mid-size farms are struggling to stay in business. That commitment shapes both the company’s innovation and its advocacy on behalf of agricultural communities. In 2025, Sarah traveled to Washington, D.C., with a group of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural stakeholders to meet with congressional leaders about agtech. BOPA’s support for agricultural communities also extends to its work at the local level.
Sarah and her team regularly visit local schools to demonstrate the technology.
“We try to engage the younger generation, not only in ag, but in tech as well, because they’re just not exposed to this type of thing,” Sarah said. “It’s probably the first time they’ve ever seen a farm robot, and they connect with it so easily because of the other systems and tools they use every day.”
The company also runs internship programs with local FFA and 4-H chapters, as well as Otero College.
Creating a virtuous cycle in rural communities
No startup community is built on the success of a single company. But visible success stories can expand what people believe is possible in their region and help create the conditions for more founders to start and grow businesses of their own.
For entrepreneurs building in rural communities, that work often extends far beyond the business itself. Few founders set out expecting to become experts in zoning, permitting, workforce development, or building codes. Yet those civic and operational challenges often become part of the job when building in places where support systems can be thinner and the path can feel disproportionately difficult for people simply trying to create something new.
What stands out about business leaders like Chris Pearson and Sarah Hinkley is not just their determination to keep building, but their willingness to take on a broader responsibility to the places they call home. They understand that building a company in a rural community also means showing up as a neighbor, an employer, a mentor, and a long-term steward of place.
That commitment helps explain why companies like BOPA and Agile can do more than grow successful businesses. They can help create a virtuous cycle—strengthening local confidence, expanding opportunity, and making it easier for the next generation of rural founders to build something of their own.
Written by Margaret Hedderman
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?
