Todd Jaquez-Fissori, a venture capitalist based in California’s famed Silicon Valley, views Colorado as a trove of relatively untapped investment opportunities.
“Colorado is an area many (venture-capital) firms on the coasts are unfamiliar with,” said Jaquez-Fissori, an investment partner with Siemens Venture Capital Inc. in San Jose. “But the local (venture-capital) guys like it that way.”
With that in mind, Jaquez-Fissori and representatives from more than 40 out-of-state venture firms descended on Avon this week for the 23rd annual Venture Capital in the Rockies conference, the region’s largest and oldest capital event.
The conference, which started Wednesday and ends today, provides Colorado’s most promising nascent companies a forum to pitch their products, ideas and business models to more than 200 venture capitalists, angel investors, chief executives and entrepreneurs.
Two dozen companies, selected from a pool of more than 150, made presentations Thursday.
Since 2000, presenting companies have combined to land more than $3 billion, conference officials said.
Jaquez-Fissori and other venture capitalists said they were looking to invest in up-and- coming Colorado companies because of the state’s educated workforce and concentration of entrepreneurs.
They also said local venture firms are more willing to partner with out-of-state venture- capital firms, a situation that helps minimize risk and increases the chances of sealing a deal.
The partnerships, often called syndications, also provide out-of-state firms a way to keep tabs on companies that are located far from their headquarters.
Compared with the East and West coasts, the competition in Colorado for the most sought-after companies is less fierce, said Steve Hubbard of Denver’s Daniels & Associates, an investment-consulting firm.
“People outside Colorado think it is an underserved market,” Hubbard said. “It’s not as competitive here, which can create better opportunities” for out-of-state venture firms.
Mark Soane, managing director of Denver’s Appian Ventures, said California’s “biggest problem is too much capital,” which at times makes venture firms overpay for attractive companies.
However, because Colorado venture firms have less cash on hand, “We need to import a lot of venture money,” Soane said.
Susan M. Kunz, president and chief executive of Boulder’s Solidware Technologies, said local companies are often forced to look outside Colorado for bigger pools of money. Kunz said partnering with out-of-state venture firms also provides access to new clients.
“There’s enough seed money in Colorado to get something launched,” said Kunz, whose product scans companies’ software for bugs and weaknesses. “But to continue growing, we’ll need to look to California.”
Colorado companies received $652 million in venture financing in 2005, seventh-best in the country, according to a recent study by accounting giant Ernst & Young.
The top state in the nation was California, with $9.9 billion raised by companies in that state, followed by Massachusetts at $2.6 billion and New York at $1.2 billion, according to Ernst & Young.
Staff writer Will Shanley can be reached at 303-820-1260 or wshanley@denverpost.com.
