Tech companies in the Centennial State are working to modernize an array of industries. A tech giant is expanding its solutions in Denver and a local VC firm is branching out of its roots. Read up on the latest tech news with the Built In Colorado Weekly Refresh.
Amazon tech expanded to Denver Whole Foods Markets. Palm recognition service Amazon One is now available in 11 Whole Foods Market stores in the Denver area, allowing shoppers to pay with the palm of their hand. Eventually, Whole Foods will also roll out Amazon Dash Cart, which will enable shoppers to exit the store with their cart without going through a checkout line. [Email]
Elevate pulled in $28M. To enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities and go-to-market strategy, benefits company Elevate raised a growth funding round. The round was led by Anthemis. Elevate’s API-driven cloud offering works to prioritize the needs of both employees and companies as a consumer-directed benefits platform. [PR Newswire]
Colorado Tech Quote of the Week
“Data [from platforms like Strava and Apple Watch] are siloed. Users don’t get to send it anywhere. They get to nerd out on their data and their sleep and all that, but they don’t get daily recommendations as it pertains to their athletic goal. And that’s what FasCat does — we take the wearable data [and] combine it with the activity data. And we’re the only platform that combines both datasets.” — Frank Overton, FasCat Coaching founder and CEO
FasCat Coaching was featured in the Built In Future 5 series. Headquartered in Boulder, FasCat works to help athletes make the most of their activity and wearable data. The company’s automated solution provides cyclists with performance optimization tips based on their workout data. FasCat plans to expand into the running and multi-sport industries later on. [Built In Colorado]
Access Venture Partners raised $47M. The firm has historically invested in startups headquartered in the Rocky Mountain region. With its latest fund, Access Venture Partners will expand investments into places like Texas, Chicago, Boston and New York. Its first out-of-state investment from the fund went to Washington, D.C.-based Tidal Cyber, a cybersecurity startup that has an engineering team in Colorado. [Denver Business Journal]
Velocity Global announced a new CEO. Providing employers with a solution to help them hire, pay and manage their teams, Velocity Global is furthering its mission to accelerate and shape the future of work with a new executive hire. The company hired Frank Calderoni, formerly of Anaplan, as its new CEO. Velocity Global founder and former CEO Ben Wright will continue to serve as board chairman. [Velocity Global]
