Have you ever walked into a room and felt a palpable buzz--like electricity was pulsing through the air and a surge of excitement ran through your body? Well, that's a taste of what the Futurebound Launch Event felt like last week. We had a packed event with more than 200 attendees crowding into Club CiviCO in CherryCreek. Everyone from early childhood leaders to investors to passionate childcare providers to startup founders were gathered to celebrate and get a glimpse into what Futurebound is and hopes to accomplish for young children in Colorado.
The launch event was designed to create collisions between people familiar with one another and those who operate in different arenas. We intentionally invited people who already knew each other in the space of child development as well as those from other circles.
Erik Mitisek, one of the co-founders of Denver Startup Week and a leader of innovation in Colorado said, “The adage of moving forward together has never been more apropos. When you think about the construct we face in child development work, there are so many barriers between innovators, between capital, between regulation and clinicians, we need to work collectively.”
You could tell by the cacophony of voices, mingling and laughter that everyone was enjoying meeting new faces and learning about what drew them to the event. It was eye opening to see how many people are deeply interested in being involved and are ready to come together to spark meaningful action.
The purpose of the evening was to kickoff this new innovation ecosystem, which we're calling Futurebound, aimed at creating a network to help solve the greatest challenges facing child development. By bringing together a diverse array of stakeholders, leaders, researchers, change-makers and resources, we believe we can build better solutions and drive greater positive impact for more children, and do it more quickly.
Futurebound intends to function as a catalyst that brings people and problems together, while removing barriers and monitoring the needs and opportunities across the entire ecosystem. This will allow us to shed light on how well we're doing. Ecosystems are not owned by one individual, rather they're collections of interconnected entities working in tandem, and Futurebound is ready to convene and inspire innovation for child development in Colorado.
Colorado is poised to catalyze an innovation ecosystem in child development because of the collaborative spirit of the individuals who live and work here, the tremendous startup community that spans statewide and has made Denver and Boulder, national hubs of innovation energy. Colorado's political climate is extremely supportive of focusing more programs and supports towards young children. There couldn't be a better place or time to begin this effort.
We had a blast, and wish you could have been there. Our next major event will be the Futurebound Summit on November 12th-15th with more information coming soon. Join our newsletter (link at footer of website) to receive the latest updates and be part of the exciting movement to make a difference for Colorado's youngest children.
