DENVER -- Tens of thousands of people are in Denver to experience Denver Startup Week starting Monday. The free event runs Sept. 24 – 28 with hundreds of events planned for attendees interested in startups or ones showcasing their products and hosting informational sessions.
Among the startups participating in the sessions is Women in Kind, a Denver coworking space supporting women and mothers.
“We truly believe that you cannot build an empire while you are staring at a pile of laundry,” said Melanie Ulle, Co-Founder of Women in Kind. “We have created a really incredible ecosystem of women.”
Ulle along with fellow Co-Owner Virginia Santy built their business on inspiring other women to achieve their goals.
“Women are 51% of the professional workforce, so we should have a lot of resources out there,” said Santy.
Women in Kind is one of those resources providing an area for women to do work while also receiving childcare.
“We are both mothers, so we understood that it is impossible to kind of bifurcate your life in two,” said Ulle. “In creating this space we created playrooms where our children could play and enjoy themselves. We created a lactation room so that nursing mothers would have a space of their own.”
Women in Kind, also known as WINK, is just one of the hundreds of businesses in the Denver area involved in Denver Startup Week where people are coming in town by the thousands to learn how to start and grow their own businesses.
“We are growing as a city, we are attracting more talent, our companies are getting stronger and we are building on that,” said Tami Door, Co-Founder of Denver Startup Week.
Denver currently has more than 5,000 employees working for startups in Denver. Those companies are looking at students graduating from universities in Colorado to recruit.
“Throughout Metro Denver we have 150,000 students, so the talent pool is significant,” said Door. “On top of that we are attracting a talented workforce here from across the country.”
With women making up a large portion of the professional world, Ulle and Santy are hoping events like Denver Startup Week will encourage other moms and women to step forward and make their goals a reality like they did too.
“Increasingly there is this recognition of what do women need so they can fully participate,” said Santy.