Futurist Gerd Leonhard to kick off Fort Collins Startup Week May 20-25

By: InnovatioNews Tuesday February 11, 2014 0 comments Tags: Boulder Startup Week, Chris Snook, Fort Collins, Gerd Leonhard, GreenFuturists.com, Kari Henley, Kauffman Foundation, Launch Haus, SeonAh Kendall, Steve Hamaker

FORT COLLINS - Futurist, author and founder of GreenFuturists.com Gerd Leonhard will kick off the first-ever Fort Collins Startup Week set for May 20-25.

The five-day event will shine a spotlight on local successful companies and new startups and also include inspiring speakers, music, happy hour networking and finish with the $250,000 Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge.

The FCSW will follow on the heels of Boulder Startup Week, set for May 12-16. A 2013 study by the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation ranked the Fort Collins-Loveland area No. 2 in its list of the Top 10 Metro Areas for high-tech startup density.

Organizers of the event are Chris Snook, founder of Launch Haus LLC, Steve Hamaker, Kari Henley and Brianne Snook.

The City of Fort Collins has pledged its participation in the event.

"The City of Fort Collins is pleased to participate in this event, which will help highlight many of the small businesses and entrepreneurs in our community and help them connect with resources," said SeonAh Kendall, the city's economic policy and project manager.

Track themes for the week include Capital Access, Design Thinking, Talent, Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, and Public Policy.

Interested sponsors of the event are invited to contact [email protected].

"Fort Collins Startup Week is slated to highlight everything entrepreneurial in Northern Colorado, from leading-edge tech to social innovation, maker labs to music, tasty hops to leaps in bioscience and some of the coolest and quirkiest main street establishments anywhere in the country," said Snook, FCSW organizing chair.

"We're blessed to have the week culminate with the unprecedented size and energy of the Blue Ocean Enterprises Challenge."