Just in time for Denver Startup Week, the Denver Office of Economic Development named its annual additions to the “Denver Gazelles” list Monday. The list identifies the fastest growing Colorado-based firms with proven success and good potential for fundraising and job creation.
This year’s companies are all in the technology industry: Cloud Elements, Havenly, MindAptiv, Parkifi, SendGrid and Blinker — a used car sales app that just launched Monday.
“Selecting just a few firms to designate as Denver Gazelles was actually more challenging than ever this year,” OED executive director Paul Washington said in a statement. “There is an astounding volume of venture capital flowing in Denver, so we had a strong field of candidates to review. In addition, we’re enjoying the growth of more companies here that started elsewhere but chose Denver as the place to take it to the next level in financing and employee size.”
The Office of Economic Development chose to title the list "gazelles," as the companies they choose must demonstrate swift growth in job creation to qualify -- just like a gazelle, right?
Officials typically determine the worthiness of the company based on referrals and research from internal staff and the venture capital community.
These are 2016’s Denver Gazelles:
Blinker
The free mobile app launched Sept. 12 and allows users to buy, sell and finance used cars via photo and without a middleman. A spokesperson for the app said it has been likened to the Uber or Airbnb of used car sales and has tremendous potential for growth, since the $465 billion used car industry has so far remained relatively untouched by the tech world. The company has raised $30 million in private investment.
Cloud Elements
Cloud Elements is a cloud application program interface (API) management and integration service that enables developers to manage multiple applications through a singular platform. The company has secured $13 million in funding.
Havenly
This female-founded online interior design service and decorating search engine puts interior design consultants, detailing ideas and cheap rental properties all in one place. The service aims to create a unified and personalized experience for each individual customer. So far the startup has raised about $8.7 million in venture capital.
MindAptiv
MindAptiv develops platforms for businesses and consumers to store and share photo and video files, streamline digital editing and enable high quality distribution across bandwidth-constrained networks. The company launched in 2011 and has raised $5.8 million in angel investments to-date.
Parkifi
This app helps users find more convenient ways to park, using mobile technology to locate real-time parking spots. Parkifi currently has 1,000 sensors installed in paring garages and lots nationwide and is adding clips to select parking spots that will enable users to pay automatically for time spent. The service launched in 2014 and so far has raised $9.5 million in funding.
SendGrid
The cloud-based customer communication platform delivers 30 billion emails per month to Internet and mobile-based customers, such as Airbnb, Costco, Foursquare, HubSpot, Pandora, Spotify and Uber. The company currently employs 300 employees in downtown Denver, has attracted $47.5 million in venture capital and is planning an IPO.
Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.
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