And may the best apps win: Go Code Colorado 2016

Ten teams from across Colorado advance to a Boulder mentor weekend and a chance at $25,000

DENVER, April 8, 2016 -- Proposed apps to help women-owned businesses, find more efficient access to natural resources and better serve food desserts are among the finalist teams for the Go Code Colorado 2016 challenge, which uses public data to help solve business problems.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office hosted its third annual Go Code Colorado challenge weekend in Colorado Springs, Denver, Durango, Fort Collins and Grand Junction April 1st-3rd. Ten teams -- two from each challenge weekend location -- out of thirty-seven advanced to the final round where they’re awarded an expenses-paid trip to a Boulder mentor weekend.

Three teams will ultimately receive $25,000 each for the best app ideas.

Three local tech and business leaders in each location judged the app and business ideas based on specific criteria. All of the Go Code Colorado teams presented ideas that use public data to help businesses build a better competitive strategy, a broad challenge that was intended to put innovative solutions in the hands of creative entrepreneurs.

Go Code Colorado also released the challenge statement -- the business problem teams are asked to solve -- in February, allowing for two months of preparation and coding prior to the challenge weekend.

"We are always looking to improve the program, and this year, that started with opening the challenge earlier to give teams more time to work, said Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams. "Teams took advantage and we saw stronger app and business ideas as a result.

"I was impressed, said Denver judge and CEO/founder of Spire Digital Michael Gellman. "The way these teams envisioned how to use public data was highly creative. It should send a message to everyone that a strong open data environment is good for Colorado.

The finalist teams with challenges they addressed are:

Colorado Springs

Hively - A platform that connects employee personalities with business cultures.

Get Routed - Developed an app that creates safe and effective cycling routes for Colorado athletes. Get Routed correlated bear sighting data with bike trails.

Denver

Locavore - Designed to help food trucks find the best location to park by informing food truck owners of street sweeping days, the amount of foot traffic the area gets, and other beneficial tips through its mobile app.

Data Cats - An app that gives farmers an opportunity to find places to sell their foods, i.e., farmers markets.

Durango

StartUpIn.co - Created a simple-to-use web portal that allows anyone to create a new business in Colorado. It has contextual and relevant advice driven by the user's input.

HomePowerDirect - Solar marketplace with education and guided data gathering for customers, system sizing, automated bidding and market intelligence for equipment providers.

Fort Collins

SWO - An application mapping verified women-owned businesses using data from the Business Entities and Trade Names databases.

Energy Tech - Surface regulation navigator for oil-and -gas drilling sites.

Grand Junction

HelpARiderOut - Connecting riders with current information about conditions so they have a safe, enjoyable ride.

Drop ID - Created a digital business card, to eliminate the hassle of physical business cards.

Local venues stepped in to host the challenge weekend in all five locations throughout the state. In Fort Collins, Galvanize provided space; in Denver it was the public campus for entrepreneurship, Commons on Champa; for Colorado Springs the coworking space Epicentral stepped up; in Durango the co-working space Durango Space hosted; and in Grand Junction the Business Incubator Center opened its doors for participants.

"I really like the idea that Go Code Colorado is not just an app challenge, it’s a complete business challenge, said Christine Chin, director of Colorado State University’s Institute for Entrepreneurship at Colorado State University and judge in Fort Collins. "Team members came together for one weekend from a variety of different backgrounds, and left with a viable business concept.

The teams will hone their app and business ideas at a Mentor Weekend in Boulder on April 15th. They’ll submit their final code for review in mid-May. On May 26th, teams convene in Denver to present to an audience of business leaders, members of the tech entrepreneurship community, government officials, and a panel of five judges at the Seawell Ballroom. The top three app and business ideas receive $25,000 each to keep developing their apps and businesses.

Read more about the competition and find finalist team photos online at http://gocode.colorado.gov/presenting-2016-ten-finalist-teams-may-best-apps-win/

The final competition event on May 26 is free and open to the public. Register online at http://gocode.colorado.gov/event/final-event/

About Go Code Colorado: Go Code Colorado is a statewide business app challenge housed in Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams’ office. The award-winning challenge – the first and only statewide effort of its kind – brings together a community of entrepreneurs, business partners and software developers to use public data to solve business problems. Many private sector organizations support Go Code Colorado, including the 2016 challenge summit partner, AT&T.