By David Cohen, Founder & CEO of Techstars

Techstars was born here in Boulder, and it was sad and disappointing to me and many others when we announced that Techstars wouldn’t be running any more accelerators here. While it was a business decision I supported at the time, it never felt good. It never felt right. And I’m truly sorry for how that felt. It sucked, and I own that. 

When I came back to Techstars as CEO in late May of this year, I started talking to the team about our goal of being better for founders and a recommitment to embrace startup communities. 

Early on, it was clear that embracing startup communities is one of the things that really made Techstars magical.  Mentors, local investors, and alumni all felt the alignment of doing something special together for early-stage startups.  They felt ownership over the companies that were selected, the coaching and support that those companies got from the community, and in the outcomes that were created. It was a great outcome, and the community drove it. 

Nicole Glaros and Natty Zola are former long-time colleagues of mine at Techstars, both of whom are now off doing their next things. Natty runs Matchstick Ventures (I’m a small LP in his fund), and Nicole has multiple amazing projects going on. We brainstormed several times over tacos and margaritas about the importance of continuing to improve the startup community in Boulder and throughout Colorado, and ultimately it became clear that we needed to not only find a way to restart the Techstars accelerator here but also to infuse it with a new energy and approach. It needs to be once again made of, for, and by the community.  

I’m very excited to let you know that Techstars Colorado, a startup community partnership, was announced earlier today by Nicole and then Natty also wrote about it. Together, we have many great ideas about how to level up this local accelerator and lead the way for other Techstars startup community partnerships to happen elsewhere. Nicole, Natty, and I are merely the instigators. Not only is the community invited to the party, it literally won’t happen without you. If we pull together as I know we can, this accelerator will be hosting startups again as early as this summer.

So, what can you do to help? Reach out to Nicole or Natty via their blog posts, or drop me a note. And, thank you for your interest and support!

Meanwhile, Techstars continues to operate our other accelerator programs around the world. In fact, we have 12 accelerator programs with open applications right now that will begin in March of 2025. 

David Cohen

At Home, in Boulder, Colorado

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