On June 1, 2016, less than two years after incorporation, Invotra opened its first US office in Denver, Colorado.
Snowsports, the spectacular Rocky Mountains, black bears & craft beer aside, we were attracted to The Mile High city because of the booming tech scene – which is thankfully well equipped to handle the otherwise semi arid climate and is flourishing.
The second largest hub outside of Silicone Valley, (Virgin America schedules daily flights between Denver & San Francisco, such is the demand and activity between both hubs), Denver is booming with opportunity. It’s the ultimate entrepreneur community & companies can enjoy the support of a progressive environment, championed by a local government that welcome the benefits the influx of companies attracts.
650,000 people live in Denver itself, with 2.9 million residents living in the entire Denver Metro area. The city welcomes these ‘transplants’ with open arms, which is a good thing considering an average of 100,000 people move to the city each year. Quality of life, a work life balance and exciting and varied career prospects are attracting the masses. With a young, educated workforce, the environment is welcoming and the vibe is warm and entrepreneurial, very heavily tech focused with a significant emphasis on the start-up scene and Cloud services.
In our first couple of weeks here we’ve encountered over a dozen opportunities to join communities to network, share stories and do business, with large scale investors hovering around waiting to identify their next ‘big thing’ for those companies looking for it. They’re in the right place – venture capitalists invested $587 million in Colorado last year alone.
However it’s not just about the start up scene. Lots of international companies have a presence in Colorado, including Google who are investing $150 million in expanding their campus to 330,000 square feet in Boulder. Facebook, Uber, CA, Amazon, IBM, Oracle and Twitter all have feet on the ground/presence in the numerous buzzy co-working environments that are popping up throughout the city to cope with demand.
It’s still early days however we’re excited to be here and to continue the ‘heads down/bums up in making it happen’ work ethic that’s core to who we are at Invotra, and a big factor to our success to date.
