About us
Pitch Nights have been a favorite in our community for more than a decade. With a focus on community feedback and connections, these startup pitches range from the earliest ideas of a company to teams ready to raise venture capital. We hold pitch nights on the third Thursday of every month.
Fill out this interest form to apply to pitch and pay attention to our newsletters for information on attending.
Upcoming events
10
Innovation Tour with PteroDynamics
PteroDynamics, 4240 N Nevada Ave Ste 100, Colorado Springs, CO, USPLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT USING THIS LUMA LINK
# 🚀 Innovation Tour with PteroDynamics
Wednesday, August 26th | 9:00 AM – 10:15 AM
PteroDynamics | Colorado Springs, COGet an inside look at one of Colorado Springs’ fastest-growing technology companies during Southern Colorado Startup Week.
Join us for an exclusive Innovation Tour with PteroDynamics Inc., the company behind the groundbreaking Transwing® autonomous vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft platform. Designed to fly faster, go farther, and reach remote locations without runways, PteroDynamics’ aircraft systems are built for demanding missions in harsh and hard-to-reach environments.
Attendees will learn how the Transwing® aircraft uniquely combines the speed, range, endurance, and payload capacity of a fixed-wing aircraft with advanced VTOL performance. Its wings fold during flight to transition smoothly between vertical takeoff and landing and efficient horizontal cruise, creating new possibilities for maritime logistics, critical payload delivery, remote operations, reconnaissance, and surveillance.
The tour will also feature a conversation with Matthew Graczyk, CEO and Co-Founder of PteroDynamics. A serial entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience building technology companies, Matthew has helped create more than $1.5 billion in investor gains through six public-company exits. He is a recognized speaker on advanced air mobility, entrepreneurship, raising capital, and scaling innovative companies.
Whether you’re a founder, technologist, investor, defense innovator, or simply curious about the future of autonomous aviation, this is a rare opportunity to see cutting-edge aerospace technology up close and hear directly from the leader helping bring it to market.Seeing is believing.
## Who Is This Session For
Colorado founders, startups and innovators looking to see what is being built in Southern Colorado and hear from a serial entrepreneur who as been through the ups and downs of starting and running tech companies.
3 attendees
Pivot Through Pain: Bouncing Back from Failure
Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 N Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO, USPLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT USING THIS LUMA LINK
# 🚀 Pivot Through Pain: Bouncing Back from Failure
Presented by El Pomar Institute for Innovation and Commercialization (EPIIC)
Wednesday, August 26th | 10:30 AM–12:00 PM
Hosted at Ent Center for the Arts at UCCSFailure is an ever-present companion on the entrepreneurial journey. While no one enjoys failure, what we learn from it often depends on our perspective - and our ability to see beyond the immediate consequences.
Led by Larry Plummer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and El Pomar Chair of Business & Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at UCCS, this session is an interactive workshop designed to help founders, entrepreneurs, and innovators rethink what failure really means and discover how setbacks can become powerful opportunities for learning, resilience, and growth.
During the workshop, we’ll revisit a compelling case of failure from NASA’s storied history and ask a deceptively simple question: Is this a story of failure - or success?
The answer may depend entirely on how you define each.
Together, we’ll explore how our definitions of failure and success shape the way we approach challenges, evaluate outcomes, make decisions, and move forward when things don’t go as planned.
During this hands-on session, you’ll:
💭 Explore how we define failure, and why our perspective matters
🚀 Examine a fascinating case from NASA’s history and debate whether it represents failure, success, or something in between
🎯 Reframe failure and success through the lens of intentional goals, outcomes, and learning
✍️ Reflect on your own setbacks to uncover lessons and opportunities for growth
🤝 Share, debate, and learn with fellow entrepreneurs through guided, supportive group discussions
🔮 Look ahead to future challenges and consider how what you learn from failure today can shape better outcomes tomorrowCome prepared to share your perspective, debate your views on failure, reveal your own failure stories, and engage with fellow participants in a supportive, constructive, and candid environment.
Whether you’ve experienced a recent setback, are navigating the uncertainty that comes with building something new, or simply want to become a more resilient founder and leader, you’ll leave with fresh perspectives and a new way to think about one of entrepreneurship’s most constant companions: failure.
Because sometimes the difference between failure and success is what happens next.
## Who Is This Session For
Colorado founders, startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners who have encountered failure and want to learn how to pivot from it.
2 attendees
Startup Arcade: Build, Price, Play
Ent Center for the Arts - Ross Lobby, 5225 North Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO, USPLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT USING THIS LUMA LINK
# 🚀 Startup Arcade: Build, Price, Play
Presented by El Pomar Institute for Innovation and Commercialization (EPIIC)
Wednesday, August 26th | 1:30 PM–3:30 PM
Hosted at Ent Center for the Arts at UCCSIn the Startup Arcade, you and your team will create a playable game from scratch! With a limited budget, limited time, and finite resources, the race is on to build the best game possible.
Do you have what it takes to corner the market?
Your team will receive startup capital (monopoly cash) to purchase materials from the central bank. Its up to you to design, build, and price your game. Every choice matters. Spend too much on materials and your profit shrinks. Spend too little and your game may be lame. Price it to high and customers may say bye bye.
Teams will put their entrepreneurial instincts to work by balancing:
- 💰 Budgeting and resource allocation
- 🛠️ Product design and development
- 💲 Pricing strategy
- 📣 Marketing and customer appeal
- 🤝 Teamwork and creative problem-solving
Once the games are built, the marketplace opens. Participants will receive a new stack of consumer dollars to purchase and play games from the other teams. Can your game win the competition for attention, customers, and revenue?
Awards will be presented for:
- 🏆 Most Popular Game – The game that sells the most plays
- 💸 Highest Profit – The team with the greatest profit after subtracting the cost of goods sold
Whether you’re an experienced founder, a student, a builder, or just curious about entrepreneurship, this hands-on workshop offers a fun way to experience the pressure, creativity, and strategy behind bringing a new product to market.
Come ready to build, price, and play!
## Who Is This Session For
Students, entrepreneurs, creatives, and community members interested in innovation, collaboration, and experiencing entrepreneurship in a fun, hands-on way.
2 attendees
SoCo Startup Showcase
Ent Center for the Arts - Ross Lobby, 5225 North Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO, USPLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT USING THIS LUMA LINK
# 🚀 SoCo Startup Showcase
Wednesday, August 26th | 4:30–6:30 PM
Ent Center for the Arts at UCCSPresented by El Pomar Institute for Innovation and Commercialization (EPIIC)
Southern Colorado is building more than people realize. Come see it for yourself.
The SoCo Startup Showcase is a high-energy, interactive startup experience featuring around 20 companies from across Colorado Springs and Southern Colorado. This is not a standard tabling event with banners, brochures, and polite nodding. Every company in the room will bring something interactive — a live demo, game, challenge, simulation, sample, experience, or hands-on activity designed to show what they are building, the problem they are solving, and why it matters.
Expect software, products, services, small businesses, student ventures, and emerging companies all sharing their work in creative, memorable ways. You might test your reaction time, try a simulator, throw things, or discover a company solving a problem you did not even know existed.
This event is built for founders, students, investors, business leaders, startup supporters, and anyone who is curious about what is happening in the local innovation ecosystem. Whether you are already plugged in or have been watching from the sidelines, this is your chance to get an inside look at the companies, people, and ideas shaping Southern Colorado’s next chapter.The evening will be free-flowing, social, and full of energy.
Explore the startup exhibits at your own pace, meet the founders behind the work, enjoy a full catered meal, and hang out at the Goat Patch Brewing pavilion for FREE beers!Come ready to explore, ask questions, try things, meet people, and leave saying: “I had no idea this much was being built here.”
Here's what to expect:
- 🚀 Interactive startup showcases and live demos
- 🎯 Games, challenges, simulations, samples, and hands-on activities
- 🤝 Networking with founders, students, investors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders
- 🍽️ A full catered meal
- 🍻 Goat Patch Brewing pavilion with FREE beer
- 💡 A high-energy look at what Southern Colorado’s startup community has to offer
If you are curious about startups, innovation, entrepreneurship, or the future of Colorado Springs, this is the room to be in.
## Who Is This Session For
Colorado founders, startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners. We also would love for our community leaders and government officials to join us.
2 attendees
Past events
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