Just in time for its 10th anniversary, Denver Startup Week begins Monday with a blend of in-person, and remote sessions aimed at connecting Denver’s entrepreneurial community, growing businesses and offering best practices.

The 2020 version was fully remote due to the COVID-19 caused shutdown, but participants are excited to get back to in-person networking and the energy that comes from casual connections and group learning.

“Obviously, there were plusses and minuses to 2020’s Startup Week,” said Ben Deda, CEO of Food Maven and co-founder of Startup Week. “The biggest downside was there’s a lot of energy to Startup Week’s in-person interactions and events. But on the plus side, it was open to a much broader audience.”

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While it’s hard to gauge attendance numbers from pre-registrations, which is free, Deda said organizers expect hundreds of attendees to events throughout the week, maybe has high as 1,000. But there’s more than 18,000 registered to take advantage of all the events, online and in-person. It will likely balloon to 20,000. The first Startup Week drew 1,000.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years. You go back and look at how much Denver and the startup community, and tech community, have grown. It looks like completely different city and community. It’s great to see that growth and put a spotlight on the great things happening here,” said Deda.

The new basecamp this year, with Amazon as the title sponsor, will be at a ground-floor retail space at the Denver Pavilions where Victoria Secret used to be. There will be plenty of well-spaced outdoor events as well. It will be open daily for sessions, coffee, happy hour and other “surprises.”

“That’s always been a big part of the event, leveraging the community assets,” Deda said. “We find people that may have space or companies to provide speakers. This is a great opportunity to take advantage of some space that’s not being used and bring some activity to it. We want to highlight what’s going on downtown.”

“Denver Startup Week is the ultimate showcase of Denver’s culture of innovation and entrepreneurship and this year, we’re delivering a world-class hybrid program that will once again reach thousands of attendees from all over the world,” said Downtown Denver Partnership CEO Tami Door. “For the tenth year, Startup Week will unite the entrepreneurial community in Denver and beyond and celebrate great companies, ideas, and people.”

Organizers are emphasizing non-tech companies this year to round out offerings to all kinds of entrepreneurs and businesses.

“It’s more than just about high-growth tech startups,” Deda said. “We want all the entrepreneurs that build the business community – we can’t be all tech. Maybe its for folks who want to build their own startup for a food company, or consulting. They’re looking at the same types of tools to build the tech companies use. That’s something we’ve had a lot more involvement in recent years.”

The popular pitch competition will return this year, as well as the Denver Startup Week Job Fair and the Choozle Puppy Panel, a happy hour to gain “paw-some insight from the industry’s best Labradors, Retrievers, Spaniels, Terriers.”

Deda points to now-successful companies that, ahem, got their start at Denver Startup Week, including Sheets and Giggles. The company won a Startup Week pitch contest and has gone on to double it revenue from 2019 to 2020 and get national press coverage when it was featured on ABC News.

The company makes sustainable bedding from eucalyptus trees, offers discounts for customers donating their old cotton sheets, and plant a tree for every order – more than 30,000 thus far.

“What a great success they are,” Deda said. “They’re just an awesome example of a company that came to Denver Startup Week, seized the opportunity to grab the spotlight, and with hard work and those connections have gone on to great success.

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Things kickoff 8:30 a.m. Monday morning with the Annual Denver Startup Week Kickoff Breakfast at Number 38, featuring “about a dozen startup leaders who have helped transform Denver’s entrepreneurial ecosystem over the past decade.”

Free registration is at the DenverStartupweek.org website.

“The biggest thing I want to stress is there’s no barrier to entry,” Deda said. “Whether or not you’ve started work on a startup, or just thinking about a startup, or you want to get better at the job you do – there’s lots of content for people of all careers and different skill sets. Oh, and it’s free.”