Denver Startup Week is drawing a record crowd

Registration for Denver Startup Week has hit 12,500, a milestone solidifying the fifth annual event as the largest free entrepreneurial event in North America. Denver Startup Week is still open for registration, and free events will continue at locations throughout downtown Denver through Friday, Sept. 16. The previous record of 10,875 registered attendees was set in 2015.

“We convene community better than anywhere in the country, and Denver Startup Week is an excellent representation of our thriving and diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem,” says Tami Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership and co-founder of Denver Startup Week. “Our strength in numbers grows our culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and further establishes a powerful platform in Downtown Denver to attract the most innovative companies and investors in the world.”

2016 Denver Startup Week “By the Numbers” so far also includes:

· More than 300 volunteers

· 54 sponsors, including title sponsors Chase for Business, Comcast NBCUniversal and the Downtown Denver Partnership

· 71 companies hiring at the Denver Startup Week Job Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 14 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House

· 664 center city tech startups employ 4,508 people, according to the Downtown Denver Startup Report released Monday

· More than 1,000 people attended the Kick-off Breakfast on Monday, which sold out in 26 minutes

· 2,755 people visited Basecamp, launched by Chase for Business, during the first two days of Denver Startup Week

· 944 events were submitted to the Denver Startup Week organizing committee and nearly 32,000 votes were cast to help identify the final schedule of more than 300 programs

Denver Startup Week has grown from 70 events and 3,500 attendees from its first year in 2012.

Organized by the Denver Startup Week Organizing Committee and co-led by Door; Erik Mitisek, executive director of Project X-ITE at the University of Denver; and Ben Deda, chief operating officer at Galvanize, Denver Startup Week is focused on highlighting Denver as an entrepreneurial center on the local, regional and national stage, while enhancing community and providing resources for the startup community.

Visit www.denverstartupweek.org to view the complete schedule of free events, and to register to attend, and follow along on-line using #DENStartupWeek.

About Denver Startup Week

Denver Startup Week, founded in 2012, is a celebration of everything entrepreneurial in Denver. The week-long event is intended to unite the entrepreneurial community in Denver and celebrate the great companies, innovation and ideas happening in the city and the people and inspiration behind them. The core programming is centered on the entrepreneurial community with an emphasis in technology, design, social entrepreneurship, manufacturing and business.  Events throughout the week are organized by both the Denver Startup Week Organizing Committee and the community at-large and include sessions, presentations, panels, workshops, happy hours, social events, job fairs and more.  Denver Startup Week is sponsored by the Downtown Denver Partnership, Comcast NBCUniversal, Chase for Business and several community sponsors and Denver entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.DenverStartupWeek.org.