Boulder's 14 Best Startup Accelerators & Incubators [2024]

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Updated: January 20th, 2022

Are you looking for an accelerator program in Boulder city?

Less than 300,000 people live near Boulder; however, the city attracts more venture capital than cities many times its size?

If you're starting a startup in Boulder, you might be wondering what startup accelerators or incubators exist in the area. Here's the full list:

Startup Accelerators & Business Incubators In Boulder

#	Accelerator/Incubator	Funding	Location	Apply
1	Boulder Tech Accelerator	$35K-$50K	Boulder a...	Apply
2	New Venture Challenge	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
3	Up Ramp Community	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
4	Merge Lane	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
5	Canopy Boulder	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
6	Unreasonable Group	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
7	Black Lab Sports	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
8	Cognizant Accelerator	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
9	Watson Semester Accelerator	Not Disclosed	Boulder	Apply
10	Catapult Innovation Labs	Not Disclosed	Boulder a...	Apply
11	GAN or Global Accelerator Network	Not Disclosed	Denver, S...	Apply
12	Uncharted	$25K	Denver	Apply
13	EforAll	Not Disclosed	Longmont/...	Apply
14	Techstars	$20K	Global	Apply

Boulder's 14 Best Startup Accelerators & Incubators [2024]

1. Boulder Tech Accelerator

Location: Boulder and Atlanta
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: $35K-$50K
Program: 12 Weeks

Boomtown Accelerator program believes that every company, its ideas, and the problems they face are unique. So, they provide early-stage startups with customized programs and help them turn their business idea into profitable and successful companies. They do not work as a startup factory and prepare a unique program for every cohort. To date, they have helped thousands of companies and have raised $174m as capital.

Apply to Boulder Tech Accelerator, or learn more ➜

2. New Venture Challenge

Location: Boulder
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 12 Weeks

Catalyze CU is a startup accelerator program designed for the students of the University of Colorado. This program combines funding, mentorship, expertise, and co-working space to help promising student ventures across the campus. This equity-free accelerator program helps aspiring entrepreneurs produce goods from the prototype and impact the business society from a startup idea.

Apply to New Venture Challenge, or learn more ➜

3. Up Ramp Community

Location: Boulder
Industry: Technology Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

UpRamp powered by CableLabs is a program that provides emerging tech startups and companies with funding and partnership opportunities. Here at UpRamp, the future is created, and new technology is generated with the help of third parties. They help startups build relations and partnerships with industry professionals, overcome obstacles, and seek collaborative opportunities. They act as game-changers in innovation and emerging tech and the growth & development of startup ventures.

Apply to Up Ramp Community, or learn more ➜

4. Merge Lane

Location: Boulder
Industry: Technology Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Merge Lane is a program that accelerates and invests venture capital funds and high-potential startups founded by authentic industry women entrepreneurs and leaders. They do not invest in the idea-stage startups and strongly prefer to help growth-stage companies, which have received some degree of traction like revenue, user growth, partnerships, etc. They provide aid to companies with scalable business models and those who operate in the niche of technology and software-enabled products.

Apply to Merge Lane, or learn more ➜

5. Canopy Boulder

Location: Boulder
Industry: Cannabis Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 15 Weeks

Canopy Boulder is an accelerator and capital venture program that provides aid to the entrepreneurs of the cannabis industry. They offer them strategic support, mentorship, funds, capital, networking, and other necessary resources for the scaling of growth-stage firms and help them to take business firms to the next level. They invest and support seed-stage startups and provide them with the right business strategies and connections with the right people.

Apply to Canopy Boulder, or learn more ➜

6. Unreasonable Group

Location: Boulder
Industry: Environment Tech
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Unreasonable is a group or community that believes in the power of business to drive scalable and lasting change. They bring together entrepreneurs, investors, and institutions and make their communities solve global problems profitably. They carefully choose handpicked growth-stage companies and provide them with top-class mentors, investors, and partners to help scale the efforts of ventures. They also offer them high-quality learning and skilling opportunities for protecting biodiversity, re-imagining sustainable drinking water and agriculture methods, exploring the future of healthcare, supporting new technologies for creating a better tomorrow.

Apply to Unreasonable Group, or learn more ➜

7. Black Lab Sports

Location: Boulder
Industry: Sports
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Black Lab Sports is an entrepreneur’s educator program and venture firm that provides aid to sports-focused industry professionals. This program combines co-working spaces, expertise, sports science laboratory, distribution center, high-tech accelerator, and market-focused mentorship. They incubate and invest in technology to unleash human potential.

Apply to Black Lab Sports, or learn more ➜

8. Cognizant Accelerator

Location: Boulder
Industry: Technology Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: Not Disclosed

Cognizant helps business firms to stay ahead in the industry. They modernize businesses with the help of innovative technologies. Its main goal is to provide participating companies with insights into what customers demand and help them deliver the same by acting instantly.

Apply to Cognizant Accelerator, or learn more ➜

9. Watson Semester Accelerator

Location: Boulder
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 4 Months

Watson Semester Accelerator program hosted by the Watson Institute helps impact-driven entrepreneurs to launch ventures. This 4-month accelerator program combines top-class mentors, investors, leaders, and entrepreneurs from all over the globe to discuss and tackle complex problems and create an impact on a career. In this program, they discuss topics like education, poverty, climate change, social justice. They leverage training, mentorship, and the community of students to accelerate the venture.

Apply to Watson Semester Accelerator, or learn more ➜

10. Catapult Innovation Labs

Location: Boulder and Montrose
Industry: Recreation Industry
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 12 Weeks

Catapult Innovation Labs helps startups and communities in the outdoor recreation industry. Its mission is to grow the outdoor recreation economy through multi-year mentorship programs, programming, and connections with the recreation ecosystem. They provide training, support, networking, and marketing to the participating startups.

Apply to Catapult Innovation Labs, or learn more ➜

11. GAN or Global Accelerator Network

Location: Denver, Sacramento
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 3 Months

GAN or Global Accelerator Network hosts a post-accelerator program focused on scaling startups through strategic partnerships, mentor guidance, customer exposure, access to capital, and more. They also provide connections and networking opportunities to growth-stage startups. During this program, startups can build meaningful relations with GAN mentors, partners, investors, and other essential community members to help them grow.

Apply to GAN or Global Accelerator Network, or learn more ➜

12. Uncharted

Location: Denver
Industry: Social
Investment Size: $25K
Program: 1.5 Months

Uncharted is a social impact accelerator program working towards solving problems from all angles. Uncharted launched this program in 2010, and since then, they have helped social entrepreneurs raise approx $252M. They believe that problems can be solved in many ways, so they bring together the best team of mentors, funders, policymakers, and partners, to put a dent in the issue and offer startups what they need.

Apply to Uncharted, or learn more ➜

13. EforAll

Location: Longmont/Boulder
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: Not Disclosed
Program: 12 Months

EforAll (Entrepreneurship for All (is a business accelerator program that focuses on turning the small business dreams of traditionally under-represented entrepreneurs (e.g. women, people of color, immigrants) into reality. This one-year program offers a unique combination of online training, mentorship, and access to professional networks. For each cohort, only 15 entrepreneurs become admitted, and each of them is led by a team of three mentors, who give them tools to take their business idea to new levels. EforAll Longmont offers this program in both English and Spanish twice per year.

Apply to EforAll, or learn more ➜

14. Techstars

Location: Global
Industry: All Industries
Investment Size: $20K
Program: 3 months
Equity Taken: Not Disclosed

Techstars runs a three-month accelerator program in which they provide mentorship and raise funding for the startups of any industry. At Techstars, they have a powerful team of mentors, corporate partners, and investors who will provide startups with workshops, innumerable experiences, curated resources, fundraising opportunities, and build a successful company.

Apply to Techstars, or learn more ➜

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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