The Downtown Denver Partnership and fellow organizers announced Wednesday that attendance at the 2016 Denver Startup Week surpassed last year’s with a total of 12,500 registrations.
In 2015, the event drew 10,875, but this year featured more events — about 250 — including panels, lectures, pitch competitions, networking events and happy hours intended to celebrate local business and draw local entrepreneurs to Denver.
The 2016 Denver Startup Week also boasted more than 300 volunteers, 54 sponsors.
Tech startups make up nearly eight percent of businesses in Denver, according to the Downtown Denver Partnership. The total 664 startups employ 4,508 people — and 56 of those raised more than $420 million in venture capital in the past year alone.
“One of our goals in the 20-year plan is to create an economically vital center city with cultural innovation and entrepreneurship that says ‘Denver is the best city to grow your business,’” said Brea Olson, a spokesperson for the Denver Downtown Partnership.
In five years, Denver Startup Week has grown from 70 events and 3,500 attendees. It is the largest free event of its kind nationwide.
Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.
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