Sure the latest initiatives from the Teslas, Apples and Googles of the industry tend to dominate the tech news space — and with good reason. Still, the tech titans aren’t the only ones bringing innovation to the sector.
In an effort to highlight up-and-coming startups, Built In has launched The Future 5 across eight major U.S. tech hubs. Each quarter, we will feature five tech startups, nonprofits or entrepreneurs in each of these hubs who just might be working on the next big thing. Read our round-up of Colorado’s rising startups from last quarter here.
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It can be difficult to define Colorado’s tech scene as it varies by city and spans the entire state. Boulder is home to several greentech and biotech companies while Denver is home to the Denver Tech Center and countless software, edtech, aerospace and adtech businesses. Needless to say, the Centennial State’s tech sector is constantly growing.
Adding to its ranks are startups building an inclusive dating app and a company making it easier for homeowners to track their home’s maintenance and renovations. Another tech company near Durango is empowering women to learn how to code. These are just a few Colorado tech companies creating innovative products. Read more about them below as part of the Built In Future 5 series.
Built In’s Future 5 Up-and-Coming Colorado Startups, Q4 2022
- Dateability (Dating app)
- DreamTeam (Software)
- Elteve (Adtech)
- GeekPack (Edtech)
- RezDox (Proptech)
Datability co-founder Jacqueline Child has struggled with dating since she was in high school due to her chronic illness and disabilities. So, she and her sister Alexa Child launched Datability, a mobile and web-based dating app designed for people with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
“We hope to be a mainstream dating app and a safe place known to facilitate meaningful relationships, whether they are romantic relationships or platonic,” Alexa Child told Built In.
On the platform, users create a profile with a photo of themselves, a mini bio, a list of interests and a section to describe their health. This allows users to say if they use a wheelchair or emotional support animal or if they have a permanent medical device. Datability is currently available across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Founded in 2020, DreamTeam developed an organization and alignment tool called KATA that helps employees across departments coordinate and make decisions quickly. Founder and CEO Brent Barkman came up with the idea for DreamTeam after working at big-name companies like Snap and IBM and speaking with VPs about challenges they faced on a daily basis.
“I found there’s information spread everywhere and everyone’s trying to go really quickly. But it’s almost like police cars trying to jam onto the highway. They’re getting in each other’s way. … So speed isn’t actually the problem; it’s the directions,” Barkman told Built In.
For now, DreamTeam is helping product teams more efficiently collaborate. In the future, the company plans to offer a career development component as well.
With the recent surge in online shopping, it can be difficult for e-commerce businesses to retain customers and stand out from the crowd. Denver-based adtech startup elteve, however, has a self-serve solution. Its platform allows Shopify brands to design and create custom shipping labels with a QR code tied to their website, social media pages or advertising campaign.
“We wanted to create a mission based on the overarching focus of developing products to improve retailers’ connection with their customers and increase their customer lifetime value,” Mike Weber, elteve CEO and co-founder, told Built In.
In the coming year, elteve plans to scale its team and hire up to 10 people across sales, marketing, operations, product development and tech and customer support.
After teaching herself how to code and build websites, entrepreneur Julia Taylor wanted to share this knowledge with other women. She launched GeekPack in October 2018.
“At the end of the day, all we really want is to empower women to learn tech skills, to help their dreams become a reality,” Taylor told Built In. “We’re bridging the gap between tech skills and what they really want, and the dreams that they have and how tech skills can help them achieve those.”
Based near Durango, the company has since expanded its course offering due to a recent partnership with Udemy. Now, GeekPack students have access to more than 19,000 online courses, including GeekPack’s signature WordPress development class.
Founded by husband and wife duo Damian and Trachelle Spencer, Lone Tree-based RezDox helps homeowners easily track home renovations and updates and records the valuation of a home as renovations are completed and market dynamics change. The company also uses machine learning to notify homeowners when maintenance on major appliances is needed.
“Our number-one goal is to offer a platform that makes home maintenance easier to manage and more transparent,” Trachelle Spencer told Built In. “If our users become more proactive about preventative maintenance and can benefit financially from those investments, then we know we are on the right track.”
RezDox is currently developing a Home Condition Score to measure a home’s overall state of repair. This score, similar to a CARFAX score, will help prospective buyers better understand the home and can be transferred to the new owner when the home sells.
