By the end of the first quarter of 2026, Howdy Partners (formerly Greater Colorado Venture Fund) was prepared to invest in more rural startups than all of 2025.
Cory Finney, Managing Partner at Howdy, was as much impressed as he was surprised. As the only fund focused on rural Colorado, Howdy has been actively engaged in the state’s startup ecosystem since 2018. In that time, they’ve seen Colorado become a national leader in rural entrepreneurship. Still, the spike in investment-ready businesses is noteworthy.
Finney attributes it to two factors: the maturity of rural Colorado’s startup ecosystem and the rise of AI.
Although many of the challenges of launching a business in rural remain, Colorado is showing that rural founders can not only compete with their urban counterparts, but often lead. These gains are made possible by the collaborative efforts of “ecosystem builders” —typically business support, local community organizers, funders, and entrepreneurs themselves—over a period of more than ten years.
Alongside state, regional, and local efforts, technological advances and shifts in work culture have helped rural communities strengthen their entrepreneurial ecosystems. Since the pandemic, remote work and video conferencing have expanded the types of businesses founders can build from rural places. Even before AI, we saw growth in tech startups, advanced industries, service-based businesses, and outdoor recreation manufacturing. These founders drew on local assets while also tapping resources beyond their immediate region.
Now, AI is helping founders move more quickly from idea to launch to investment-ready. This includes founders who are building AI into their products, as well as those using it to streamline operations, synthesize research, and reach customers.
Today, we’re looking at three recent Howdy investments that reflect the rapid evolution of rural Colorado’s startup ecosystem.
Rever founders strike back with KOPILOT.ID
When founders Justin Bradshaw and Mark Roebke sold their motorcycle app—the Eagle-based Rever in 2020—neither was ready to retire. They turned to the slush pile of R&D projects from their previous startup, ideas that had never been fully fleshed out or built, to see if there might be something worth exploring.
One idea stood out: a digital emergency ID tag to help provide critical information to outdoor enthusiasts when things go wrong and they can’t speak for themselves . Both founders had either experienced or witnessed motorcycle accidents in which the rider was knocked out and unable to communicate their medical details—such as allergies or asthma—to emergency workers. The device would have applications well beyond motorcycles, with use cases across outdoor recreation segments like mountain biking, climbing, skiing, and ultrarunning.
They launched KOPILOT.ID in the fall of 2025. The digital ID tag uses Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to transmit data. Almost any modern smartphone can use it, easily accessing the user’s emergency profile via their browser or free app. For adventurers interested in international travel, instant AI language translation is available in more than 20 languages.
While both Bradshaw and Roebke are experienced founders, the speed of their launch was accelerated by AI. Bradshaw estimates it decreased their startup time by upwards of 50%. They use it throughout their business processes, from developing and iterating new app features to analyzing marketing analytics. For example, comparing cost-per-click rates or other web metrics once required several meetings and a dedicated team. Now, it’s as simple as asking an AI agent.
“We still do a lot of things old school, and I would say we really do the AI in support of things, not in replacement of a lot of things,” Bradshaw said.
In addition to Bradshaw and Roebke, KOPILOT.ID currently contracts a team of developers, a graphic designer, social media coordinator, and a fractional CFO.
The founders originally planned to bootstrap the company, but as the business grew, they saw the market opportunity was bigger than originally anticipated. They turned to Howdy, which had been an early investor in Rever, to discuss their new venture.
Howdy is currently leading the pre-seed round into KOPILOT.ID The $1M round is expected to close in July. The capital will help them hire additional team members, attend more athletic events, and increase the marketing spend.
Wise Bar brings advanced nutrition to retailers nationwide
Wise Bar co-founder Josh Dominick calls most energy and protein bars “advanced candy.”
And as a competitive snowboarder growing up in Colorado, Dominick consumed a lot of them. He also suffered from anxiety and depression, and said that western medicine consistently failed to address those mental health challenges.
After studying culinary arts in Florence, Italy, where he could eat “pasta, sandwiches and pizza every day, and was in the best shape of my life,” he shifted his diet toward cleaner, healthier foods. Around the same time, he became interested in adaptogens and functional mushrooms as a way to manage his anxiety.
In 2017, Dominick launched a sports bar company from his apartment kitchen while attending CU Boulder. The first iteration of Wise Bar sourced clean ingredients, as well as adaptogens and CBD. The company was on a roll until the CBD market became saturated with misinformation and Dominick’s team found themselves spending “as much energy getting people to try the product as we were defending cannabinoids and CBD.”
In 2023, he relaunched the company with a focus on adaptogens and functional mushrooms. The brand has since landed retailers across the country, including Whole Foods. True to the original mission, Wise Bar sources organic, gluten-free ingredients and avoids added sweeteners and syrups. The company currently manufactures in Austin and Las Vegas, and will soon begin contracting with a facility in Denver.
While Wise Bar precedes the rise of AI, Dominick and his co-founder have quickly integrated it into their organizational and product development processes. Dominick uses it to support his day-to-day workflow, syncing his email and calendar to Claude to help create task lists and priorities. They’ve also experimented with AI to help synthesize research into functional mushrooms.
“That used to take months of communicating with researchers—and we still do, we still follow up with all of the primary folks—but now we have better questions to ask.”
Prior to their current seed round with Howdy, Wise Bar was bootstrapped with support from friends and family. The influx of new capital will primarily support their marketing efforts and direct-to-consumer offerings. In July, Wise Bar raised $1.5M from Howdy, CPG experts, and angel investors in the Roaring Fork Valley Community.
Opine
Lindsay Rogers has a long background in storytelling. She worked as an editor and writer for Outside and Skiing magazines before transitioning into marketing roles with outdoor brands.
She soon marked a “big shift in people interested in a brand as it relates to its products and people interested in a brand as it relates to its people.”
Consumers wanted stories.
Rogers pivoted to working as a personal branding consultant for athletes, developing programs to help bring their stories out and tell them in a compelling way. Her consulting work expanded and she contracted with corporate and startup leaders as well. The only problem? Consistent and compelling storytelling content.
“I started to notice that no matter how much I told them what to do. The actual execution piece was challenging.”
Rogers connected with the CTO of a startup she’d previously been involved with and asked him if there was an opportunity to productize personal brand development using AI. He said absolutely.
They began experimenting with and building early too