Colorado continues to see an upward trend in venture capital investments in third quarter – especially when compared to the rest of the nation. According to the DenverBusiness Journal, venture capital jumped to $144.6 million in third quarter, putting first and second quarters numbers of 44.5 million and 78.3 million, respectively, to shame. The number of venture capital deals also increased from 19 to 25 in the last quarter. In spite of Colorado’s boost in investments, nationally, venture capital was down in Q3.
Even more exciting, aside from one VC deal, all of the capital raised for 24 out of 25 deals came from within the Centennial State. This signifies that startups are able to come to Colorado and not only get a company off the ground, but continue to grow their business into maturity here as well.
According to the Denver Post, the companies that were able to secure funding include Denver-based software development bootcamp and co-working space Galvanize, which raised $45 million to expand its bootcamps and schools across the nation. In addition, mobile app FullContact secured $25 million from Boulder-based venture capital firm The Foundry Group.
Furthermore, companies with locations in Denver were also able to raise capital to expand their offices in the area. For example, FiveStars is a loyalty program for small businesses and is headquartered in San Francisco. While the company still calls the Bay Area home, FiveStars upgraded their Denver office to a larger 17,000-square foot space at 700 Broadway. The company also has plans to hire another 40 to 50 employees by the end of the year.
