Colorado Springs Venture Attractor celebrates third cohort

On May 25, the Venture Attractor at UCCS organized a Demo Day for the graduating cohort of the Scale to $1M Boot-Up Camp in Berger Hall on the UCCS Campus. This marked the third cohort to successfully complete the program.

During Demo Day, which was sponsored by Goat Patch Brewing Company, the six ventures each presented a five-minute pitch to the audience. These pitches represented the culmination of knowledge and skills the ventures acquired over the 16-week Boot-Up Camp. The ventures in the 2023 Cohort included Dart Wars, founded by Dylan Newman; Self Defense Academy, founded by Flip Aguilera and Samantha Sargent; Beeable Coaching, founded by Britiany Troup; SendMyGear, founded by Ethan and Joel Thompson; Outpost Ltd., founded by Bryan Tirone; and Beaconox, founded by Aaron and Luke Nielson.

Each venture eagerly took the stage, hoping to secure the $5,000 cash prize. During the pitches a panel of four judges, consisting of Dean Tommy Aicher from the UCCS College of Business, Mackenzie Maltby-Tamayo from the O’Neil Group, Bernard Sandoval from Sandia Advertising, and Lance Kohl from Southern Colorado Startup Week, were tasked with evaluating each pitch and selecting a winner.

During the time between the pitches and awards, guests were encouraged to engage with each founder. Around the perimeter of Berger Hall, the founders had arranged displays showcasing their business’s. These displays offered a variety of interactive activities in which guests could participate. The objective was to foster new connections, partnerships, and potential customers for each founder as guests conversed with them.

At the end of the evening, the judges deliberated, and a winner was selected. After much anticipation by both the ventures and audience a winner was announced. In the end, Beeable Coaching, led by founder Britiany Troup, emerged victorious taking home the $5,000 prize.

Learn more about the Colorado Springs Venture Attractor

The EPIIC Venture Attractor™ is a university-based research initiative of the El Pomar Institute of Innovation & Commercialization (EPIIC) at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and is on a mission to drive regional economic development and strengthen the startup ecosystem in Colorado Springs. The focus on early stage startups in the sectors of sports and outdoors, health innovation, and human performance spurs the organic development of a dynamic regional cluster from these complementary sectors. Learn more about the Venture Attractor on the UCCS website.