Administrators: Colorado Innovation Network (COIN) & Governor John Hickenlooper
Target: Small business owners located in the state of Colorado
Seeking to foster economic growth and develop quality, high paying jobs through innovation in seven "advanced industries" (Information and Technology, Aerospace, Energy and Natural Resources, Infrastructure Engineering, Advanced Manufacturing, Bioscience, and Electronics), Colorado entrepreneurs operating with less than $1 million in annual revenue were invited to compete for a chance to win approximately $100,000 in cash and in-kind donations to accelerate their business ventures.
The challenge asked contestants to include examples of ways that they had previously failed in their businesses and how these failures helped them to grow and succeed by learning from their previous mistakes.
Qualified finalists were invited to the annual COIN Summit where they had six minutes to present their ideas to attendees and six minutes to answer questions.
The winning business, Rachio, developed Iro, a Wifi connected irrigation system that integrates hardware with cloud-based software. Iro makes it easy and affordable for homeowners to have a beautiful, productive, resource-optimized yard. The result is an engaged homeowner, a healthier landscape and reduced water consumption. Iro users can save upward of $149 a month using this system and conserve approximately 17,000 gallons of water a month.
