United States / Funding / By state / Colorado
Funding for startups in Colorado
Colorado runs 10 programmes of its own, and 10 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to Colorado companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by Colorado and local bodies
Advanced Industries Accelerator — Early-Stage Capital and Retention Grant
Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) · Colorado
Colorado grant helping advanced-industries tech companies develop and commercialize technology built or manufactured in-state; current cycle due Aug 27, 2026 at 5pm MT.
Advanced Industries Proof of Concept Grant
Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) · Colorado
Colorado grant funding research institutions to move applied advanced-industries research toward commercialization, distinct from OEDIT's company-facing Early-Stage Capital and Retention Grant; current cycle due Aug 27, 2026, 5pm MT.
Advanced Industry Investment Tax Credit (AITC)
Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) · Colorado
Certified Colorado advanced-industry startups can offer investors a state income tax credit worth 25 to 35 percent of their investment.
Cash Collateral Support
Colorado OEDIT, managed by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) · Colorado
A state cash deposit backs your loan collateral when a Colorado business cannot meet a lender's collateral requirement.
CLIMBER Loans
Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) / Small Business Resiliency Oversight Board · Colorado
Below-market working capital loans of $10,000 to $500,000 for small Colorado businesses with 1 to 99 employees.
Colorado Credit Reserve
Colorado OEDIT, managed by Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) · Colorado
A state-backed loan loss reserve that helps Colorado businesses get bank loans up to $500,000 they otherwise would not qualify for.
Colorado Revolving Loan Fund
Colorado OEDIT, funded by the US Economic Development Administration · Colorado
Startup and working capital loans from $5,000 to $750,000 for small and medium Colorado businesses, with priority for underserved founders.
Colorado Startup Loan Fund
Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) · Colorado
Micro-loans up to $150,000 through partner lenders for Colorado entrepreneurs who cannot get a traditional bank loan.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Business Loan
Colorado OEDIT, funded by US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Colorado
Rural Colorado businesses can get loans or microenterprise loans up to $100,000 through 12 regional HUD-funded loan funds.
Rural Jump-Start Program
Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) · Colorado
New businesses that locate in economically distressed rural Colorado counties get full state, county and municipal tax relief plus a startup grant.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to Colorado businesses
Grants 23
- AFWERX SBIR/STTR & Army xTechup to $15M
- Amber Grant for Womenup to $50k
- ARPA-E
- ARPA-H
- Comcast RISEup to $5k
- DHS SBIRup to $1M
- DoD SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- DOE SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- ED/IES SBIRup to $1M
- EDA Build to Scale (B2S)up to $5M
- EPA SBIRup to $400k
- Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program
- FedEx Small Business Grant Contestup to $50k
- NASA SBIR/STTRup to $1.27M
- NIH SBIR/STTRup to $4.19M
- NOAA SBIRup to $690k
- NSF SBIR/STTR — America's Seed Fund powered by NSFup to $1.25M
- Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) — Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiencyup to $25M
- SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC)up to $200k
- SBIR/STTR (America's Seed Fund)up to $2.15M
- US DOT SBIRup to $200k
- USDA NIFA SBIR
- Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)up to $200k
Loans & guarantees 15
- CAPLines (SBA 7(a) Lines of Credit)up to $5M
- CDFI Fund — Certified Community Development Financial Institution Network
- DOE Loan Programs Office (Office of Energy Dominance Financing)
- Export Working Capital Program (EWCP)up to $5M
- International Trade Loan Program (ITL)up to $5M
- Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL)up to $2M
- SBA 504 Loan Program (CDC/504)up to $5.5M
- SBA 7(a) Loan Programup to $5M
- SBA Community Advantage Loansup to $1M
- SBA Disaster Loans (Physical Damage & Economic Injury)up to $2M
- SBA Microloan Programup to $50k
- SBA-504 and 7(a) Combined Loan Cap ($10M)up to $10M
- EXIM Working Capital Guarantee Programup to $10M
- SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Programup to $14M
- State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)
Tax benefits 8
- Federal R&D Tax Credit (Section 41)
- New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)
- QSBS Section 1202 Exclusionup to $15M
- Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ)
- R&D Payroll Tax Offset (Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit)up to $500k
- Section 174A Domestic R&D Expensing Restoration
- State R&D Tax Credits (multi-state landscape)
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)up to $2.4k
Equity 7
- 500 Global Flagship Acceleratorup to $150k
- Antler US Residency
- gener8tor Investment Acceleratorup to $100k
- HAXup to $250k
- Neo Accelerator
- Techstars Standard Investment Termsup to $220k
- Y Combinator Standard Dealup to $500k
Support & credits 10
- AWS Activateup to $200k
- Google for Startups Cloud Programup to $350k
- Microsoft for Startupsup to $150k
- MassChallenge Accelerator Programs (Traction & Challenge)
- MBDA Business Center Network
- NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
- NVIDIA Inception
- Plug and Play Accelerator Programs
- SBA 8(a) Business Development Program
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program
The other Colorado deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In Colorado that means the Periodic Report — Due within a 5-month window centered on the entity's periodic-report month — 2 months before through 2 months after. The report month is set at formation and shown on the entity's Summary page.
This page exists because Colorado has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a Colorado programme we are missing via the contact page.
Funders read the books before the pitch
Every programme on this page asks for financials in a particular shape. We keep Colorado books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.