With spring springing and summer just around the corner, the pace in Boulder is picking up quickly as Boulderites prepare for a summer filled with fun activities around every corner. For the tech lovers, entrepreneurs, students and investors of all kinds, the beginning of this summer season promises lots of fun and opportunities with Boulder kicking off its sixth Startup Week. Founded in 2010, Boulder Startup Week is five days dedicated to all things entrepreneurial, business and startup, celebrating the incredible startup scene Boulder has to offer.

The five-day event takes place from May 11^th – 15^th in various locations around Boulder and consists of a variety of events ranging from mentor office hours, talks and discussions to group happy hours and startup stories. Always proving to be a fun filled event is the 3^rd Annual Quickest Left Office Chair Race and Scavenger Hunt in which groups will participate in a race to solve the clues of the hunt throughout downtown Boulder all while being pushed and pulled in an office chair! Other events include a Startup Crawl where offices open their doors for drinks and conversation throughout town, yoga at class taught by local yoga instructor Rob Loud, a Hackathon at SendGrid and much more.

With numerous talks featuring various aspects of the food industry, the food and service industry seem to be a hot topic in this year’s Startup Week and its no surprise why; although seemingly overlooked, new restaurants are startups too and Boulder’s restaurant scene is top-notch, contributing significantly to the city’s economy thanks to Boulderites’ ever-curious palettes.

Boulder will wrap up its Startup Week on Friday May 15^th with Boomtown’s Demo Day at the Boulder Theater. This exciting event will showcase the nine startups Boomtown selected for their accelerator program and what they have been working on for the last twelve weeks. This is an incredible chance to be one of the first to see some of the business worlds topmost emerging businesses.

As if Boulder’s startup and tech scene wasn’t cool enough already, one of the most unique aspects of this business incubator is the way each business and member of the community supports one another. VictorOps CEO and Boulder entrepreneur Todd Vernon speaks to that: “Here everyone wants to see other startups succeed. You can start companies here and it is much more collegiate rather than cutthroat and competitive”. This support as well as Boulder’s great work/lifestyle balance is what differentiates Boulder from other startup cities like Silicon Valley. So get ready to celebrate the awesome place Boulder has become for technology and entrepreneurs and take advantage of the opportunity get involved in the startup experience.

To learn more about Boulder Startup Week and to see a full listing and schedule of events visit their website http://boulder.startupweek.co/. Most events are free but do require an RSVP and tickets for Boomtown’s Demo Day can be purchased here.

Marika Dasbach