Telluride Venture Accelerator: Investor Day

28 Jun Telluride Venture Accelerator: Investor Day

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet to help conclude intensive five-month business accelerator program

The Telluride Venture Accelerator (TVA) is entering the final phase of its second year. Launched in the fall of 2012 as an initiative of the Telluride Foundation, TVA selected six companies out of 75 applicants from around the world to participate in the 2014 five-month business accelerator program. The winning companies are now in the final phase preparing for “Demo Day” scheduled for Tuesday, July 1, 2014.

Senator Michael Bennet to attend TVA’s Investor Day

While operating in the co-working space hosted by The Peaks Resort, all of the ventures have made substantial progress. Leveraging TVA’s extensive network of over 80 mentors, they have created new products, refined business plans, generated financial models, finalized investment term sheets, lined up customers, and evolved their marketing and branding strategies.

The TVA program culminates with an Investor Pitch Demo Day at the Peaks Resort, followed by the 2014 companies taking their pitches and stories on the road to events in Boulder and San Francisco. For this invite-only Demo Day, TVA is bringing together a unique group of angel and institutional investors to hear the final presentations from the participating companies following five months of immersion in the TVA accelerator program. U.S. Senator Michael Bennet will be the keynote speaker for the event followed by a discussion and Q&A on the Role of Entrepreneurship in our Changing Economy with representatives from Andreessen Horowitz, the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, and Blackstone Group. Prior to the event, the TVA companies will also have a private breakfast with Meg Whitman, CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

Part-time Telluride local Med Whitman of Hewlett Packer to attend TVA’s Investor Day

The companies have been able to benefit from TVA’s 80 mentors, including entrepreneurs-in-residence, who guided the companies through their 5 months.

“The LifeDojo team came to Telluride with thousands of early customers, but had no idea what market to focus on,” said Chris Cutter, a member of the 2014 TVA cohort and LifeDojo CEO and Co-Founder. “With the amazing support of the TVA directors and the vast TVA mentor network – we found the perfect product-market fit – and now we are poised for explosive growth in the $6 billion corporate wellness industry.”

According to another 2014 TVA CEO & Founder Karen Frame “makeena has loved being one of the TVA companies. We’ve had access to incredible talent and resources, as well as experienced mentors and entrepreneurs-in-residence since Day 1 — totally maximizing the opportunity that TVA gave us. As a result, we’ve been able to accomplish A LOT in a very short period of time.”

Thea Chase, director, Telluride Venture Accelerator, see at MIT’s Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast featured TVA’s Thea Chase, then managing director of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The 2014 class of TVA companies includes:

·         LifeDojo is the cure for the common corporate wellness program. Using clinically proven 12-week behavior change methods, the LifeDojo online platform engages employees in a structured journey of motivation, change-planning and daily action resulting in long-term healthy lifestyle changes that save employers money. No games, no gimmicks – just corporate wellness that works. Co-Founder & CEO – Chris Cutter. Go here on Telluride Inside.. and Out for an interview with Cutter.

·         makeena is a location-aware mobile and web platform that allows shoppers to make healthy choices for themselves and for the environment while saving money, providing natural and sustainable brands with data analytics and highly-engaged shoppers. Go here on Telluride Inside… and Out for an interview with CEO & Founder Karen Frame.

·         Fresh Monster – is a natural, toxin-free hair and body care brand specifically designed and formulated for kids (ages 3-9). Go here for an interview with Co-Founders Irena Todd and Jean Sim on Telluride Inside… and Out.

·         PlanitMapper makes it easy to plan, map and share your next adventure using our unique layered maps and “smart” product recommendation system – these same innovations allow us to deliver game-changing services to online retailers and the larger arena of online marketing. Co-Founders Haj Khalsa, Jonathan Repa, Pradip Hari. Go here for an interview with Haj on Telluride Inside.. and Out.

·         Awestruck  Dental is a Telluride-based company developing and commercializing a novel device that reduces the discomfort and pain experienced by millions of dental patients undergoing routine procedures – thus improving the total care experience and increasing the dentist’s productivity by providing better exposure and shortening procedure time. CEO, Founder & Inventor – Dick Fulton MD; Other Co-Founders Karen Gaines DDS, Mark Kozak, Bob Bledsoe; CDO Scott Leune DDS; BusDev Jim Segermark. Go here for an interview with Fulton.

·         Journeys translates meaningful experiences into beautiful and engaging stories that help you find the people you wish you knew. CEO & Founder Alex Grappo; CTO & Co-Founder Shieh-Chieh Tao.

TVA invests human and financial capital in innovative enterprises with the aim of building and strengthening the entrepreneurial community in the Telluride region to create a self-sustaining entrepreneurial ecosystem bringing innovation, jobs, ideas and a renewed dynamism.  TVA’s flagship program is its 5 month long residential accelerator program for early-stage entrepreneurs. This effort provides participating companies with the resources they need to succeed and grow, including hands-on high-level mentoring, advice, practical business training and access to capital.

TVA plays to Telluride’s unique strengths, including access to a high concentration of extremely successful investors and business executives that have a connection to Telluride, being the first accelerator funded and run by a community foundation, and the first accelerator to focus on outdoor recreation, tourism, natural products, health, energy, water and education. TVA prioritizes companies with technology solutions in our focus areas.

Founded in 2012, the TVA’s mission is to make Telluride a great place to start and grow a business. Four companies were selected for the 2013 cohort and have raised approximately $2m since Demo Day 2013.

For more information about TVA, Telluride Demo Day or the Boulder and San Francisco Roadshows contact Thea Chase at thea@tellurideva.com or Jesse Johnson at jesse@tellurideva.com.

Along with the Telluride Foundation, TVA is supported by individual donors, the Blackstone Foundation, the Kaufman Foundation, the Johnson Family Foundation, the Colorado Economic Development Commission, and receives corporate support from The Peaks Resort, ASAP Accounting and Payroll, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP attorneys at law and Great Lakes Airlines.

For more information on TVA, visit www.tellurideva.com  

About the Telluride Foundation:

The Telluride Foundation exists to create a stronger Telluride community through the promotion and support of philanthropy. It is a nonprofit, apolitical community foundation that provides year-round support for local organizations involved in arts, education, athletics, charitable causes, land conservation and other community-based efforts through technical assistance, education and grant making. As a grant maker, the Foundation awards grants to qualified applicants that serve the people living and working in the Telluride area for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life within the region. For more information on the Telluride Foundation, visit www.telluridefoundation.org.