Events and Opportunities
Whether you're just curious to learn more about innovation and entrepreneurship or even ready to launch your next business, we have events and opportunities throughout the year to help you make the real-world impact that you envision. Keep up to date on upcoming events, opportunities and deadlines with our newsletters: Sign Up Now
Signature Programs of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative
Connecting the CU Boulder campus with the Boulder community to develop innovative ideas and pitch for up to $50,000 in venture funding.
Student entrepreneurs with diverse perspectives who embrace the spirit of innovation and impact on campus and in the Boulder community.
A micro-funding opportunity for CU Boulder undergraduate and graduate students that provides up to $500 in funding for entrepreneurial ideas in the making.
A mini job fair that brings entrepreneurially-minded CU Boulder students and local Front Range startups together with a twist.
Join this collaborative event that's all about making positive changes in the world. Whether you have an idea or are someone eager to help those ideas become real, this is the event you don't want to miss.
CU Boulder's entrepreneurial mentor network supports innovative activity on campus led by students, faculty and staff.
Off-Campus Opportunities
Events
Oct. 27-30: CU Boulder Translational Funding Week: Unlock Funding to Move Your Research or Venture Forward—A series of engaging lunchtime sessions designed to demystify the landscape of non-dilutive funding opportunities that support the journey from lab to market.
Tuesday, Nov. 4: RVC Pitch Academy—A half-day workshop to prepare founders to understand many of the terms and processes used by VCs and sharpen their venture strategy.
Wednesday, Nov. 5: Colorado Impact Hackathon—A one-day innovation sprint where CU Boulder students team up with Google professionals to tackle Colorado's most pressing climate and energy challenges.
Tuesday, Nov. 11: Longmont Open Coffee Club Happy Hour—A meetup for entrepreneurs, developers and investors with a focus on discussing startups, staffing, marketing and debating the hot topics of the day.
Wednesday, Nov. 12: Golden Startup Coffee—A monthly opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators, creatives and community members to explore Colorado startup journeys.
Wednesday, Nov. 12: Idea Feasibility: Methods to Test Your Business Idea—Answering several key questions will help highlight crucial considerations before you launch and form the beginnings of a business plan. Hosted by Startup Colorado.
Thursday, Nov. 13: Welcome to Boulder Startup Happy Hour—Welcoming anyone new to the Boulder tech and startup scene. Colorado Startups will answer your questions, direct you to resources and help make introductions where appropriate. Plus you’ll meet other community members and individuals new to Boulder.
Thursday, Nov. 13: Foley Hoag Colorado Life Sciences Summit—Join Foley Hoag and the Colorado Bioscience Association for a high-energy Life Sciences Summit—an afternoon of insights, networking and practical strategies. Connect with innovators, founders and industry leaders shaping Colorado’s life sciences future.
Thursday, Nov. 13: Fall XI Demo Day—See the latest cohort of the XI Accelerator share demos and pitches followed by purposeful networking with founders, mentors, investors and community partners.
Thursday, Nov. 13: Rural Women in Entrepreneurship—Startup Colorado's virtual networking conversation focusing on current projects, story sharing and pooling resources to help reach the "next step" on the long entrepreneurial road ahead.
Monday, Nov. 17: How to Launch Your Business—Learn about Startup Colorado's checklist of startup essentials from creating a simple business plan and legally registering your company to setting up your finances and landing your first customers.
Thursday, Nov. 20: CBSA Coffee + Connect—Engage with others in Colorado’s life sciences community and spark dynamic relationships with fellow innovators.
Thursday, Nov. 20: Welcome to Denver Startup Happy Hour—Bringing together founders, entrepreneurs and anyone curious about the Denver (and Colorado) startup scene.
Thursday, Dec. 4: Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs Certificate Reception—Discover how this online certificate program is designed to open doors for professionals in Colorado’s life science ecosystem by providing critical training in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs.
Thursday, Dec. 11: Welcome to Boulder Startup Happy Hour—Welcoming anyone new to the Boulder tech and startup scene. Colorado Startups will answer your questions, direct you to resources and help make introductions where appropriate. Plus you’ll meet other community members and individuals new to Boulder.
Friday, Dec. 12: Colorado Startup Ski Day—Join the Colorado startup community on the mountain! Open to founders, operators, investors and the startup-curious.
Applications
Thursday, Oct. 30 (deadline): Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop—Offered as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps™ Hub: West Region, this workshop is for anyone from a research or community institution motivated to bring their ideas to life, secure funding and create lasting impact.
Friday, Oct. 31 (deadline extended): Nucleate Activator: 25-26 Cohort—Participants gain access to our network of 2000+ industry leaders and partners across biotech, pharma and VC.
Friday, Oct. 31 (deadline): XI Survive & Thrive Program—Exponential Impact (XI), in partnership with the City of Colorado Springs will provide loans up to $50,000, along with mentorship and learning opportunities.
Friday, Nov. 7 (deadline): West Gate Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program at NREL— Seeking scientists, engineers, inventors and founding entrepreneurs with promising technologies to commercialize and who are interested in embedding at NREL. The two-year program will support selected innovators with non-dilutive funding, resources and entrepreneurial mentorship.
Friday, Nov. 7 (deadline): CRI Cohort 2026—This two-year fellowship embeds early-stage startup founders at Argonne to help transform breakthrough science and energy technologies into impactful solutions.
Friday, Nov. 7 (deadline): Innovation Crossroads Cohort 2026—Innovation Crossroads supports and mentors entrepreneurial researchers whose early-stage innovations are presently too challenging or technically uncertain to pursue in a venture capital–financed start-up.
Applications open: EnergyTech University Prize–Student teams compete for more than $540,000 for successfully identifying a promising energy technology, assessing its market potential, and creating a business plan for commercialization.
Applications open: The Environmental Sustainability Entrepreneurship Program—A free expert-led cohort to help sustainability ventures. Participants will receive expert-led training, committed mentorship and pitch coaching.
Rolling Application: Activator: 25-26 Cohort—An open-access, equity-free biotech accelerator for early-stage founders.
Rolling Application: Startup Colorado Community and Entrepreneurship Grants–Grants that support rural entrepreneurs who are eager to level up their businesses but need a financial boost to get there.and delivering results.
Rolling Application: OEDIT Advanced Industry Investment Tax Credit—For investors and advanced industries businesses in the amount of 25% to 35% per investment up to $100,000.
Rolling Application: Global Business Development's 2025 Trade Shows–Apply for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade's funding and trade show participation program.