Founded in FoCo

03/12/2026

How cool is it to hear the Mayor of the City of Fort Collins - Government celebrate creatives, small business owners, and nonprofits?

Mayor Francis helped us officially proclaim the week as Founded in FoCo Week, explored the Gallery Garden Walk, put her mark on the Canvas of Mutual Aid, and enjoyed some music by Elyse Miller while meeting entrepreneurs and creatives from all around our community.

03/09/2026

In just under an hour at Visit Fort Collins Colorado Welcome Center, you get to hear from four amazing founders courtesy of Institute for Entrepreneurship at CSU:

Lauren Little — Lodgeit
Gabe Allen — MP Provisions
Anabella Poletti — AP Design House
Jana Sanchez — Alchemy With Words
.. AND you get to participate in a live art project by Sheri Lauren, Art. Can't wait to see you there for the best first conversation of the week for Founded in FoCo 2026. You can also pick up your badge, buy one on the spot, and save yourself a check-in line tomorrow!

Check out our schedule and more at: FoundedinFoCo.com!

03/09/2026

Believe it, Founded in FoCo starts TOMORROW (MONDAY)!

MONDAY NIGHT: Founded in FoCo 2026 KICK-OFF SOCIAL

Visit Fort Collins Welcome Center · Mountain Ave, Fort Collins

Doors open 4:30 PM · Program from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Parking: Use the garage across the street, be sure to pay for your parking!

Come pick up your badge early, meet fellow attendees, and hear from three CSU entrepreneurs about their real journeys and participate in a live art project by artist Sheri Lauren, Art!

Speakers:
Lauren Little - LodgeiT
Gabe Allen - MP Provisions
Anabella Poletti - AP Design House
Jana Sanchez - Alchemy With Words

Artist Sheri Lauren is guiding guests to contribute to a collaborative live canvas, The Canvas of Mutual Aid, that grows throughout the week.

03/07/2026

Did you know that we purposefully built breaks into our Founded in FoCo 2026 schedule?

The schedule is built for more than sessions. Every break is purpose built for you to be able to network, work on something you just learned, make a new connection, connect with a resource in the resource hub - a curated set of local organizations who can actually help you act on what you're learning.

Every day we've programmed breaks at 10:30–11:00 AM, 11:45 AM–12:30 PM, and 1:15–2:00 PM.

Tuesday and Wednesday also have a 3:30–5:00 PM Coworking Block before evening events, a great time to debrief with someone you just met and turn a conversation into a collaboration. It's also guilt-free time to sneak off and pick up the kiddos from school, if you need to.

Speaking of kiddos: our Wednesday night event starts at 5PM and is FAMILY FRIENDLY, alcohol free (mocktails will be flowing), has great music by Elyse Miller, features a Mayoral Proclamation by Mayor Emily Francis, and will have young entrepreneurs from the Youth Entrepreneurship Tournament. Bring the whole family.

03/06/2026

Founded in FoCo 2026 is in just a few days!!! @

From March 10–12 at the Fort Collins Senior Center, you can look forward to:
- 700+ community members including nonprofits, creatives, solopreneurs, and small business owners, all in the same space for three days
- 80+ sessions built directly from a community needs survey, the schedule was shaped by what Northern Colorado told us it actually needed right now
- The #1 challenge you reported: marketing and visibility. The #2: funding and revenue stability. Nearly 60% of respondents named one of those two. Every single track addresses them directly.
- Pay-what-you-can pricing, including $0, because the people who need this knowledge and networking most shouldn't have to figure out how to afford it
- Evening events each night: a Mayoral proclamation from Mayor Emily Francis, live music by Elyse Miller, mocktails from Herbal Mocktails on Wednesday, and Happy Hour at Simmer! on Tuesday
- A Resource Hub with 13 local organizations including the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, The Warehouse, City of Fort Collins - Government, Colorado SBDC serving Larimer County, Front Range Community College, Ent Credit Union, Institute for Entrepreneurship at CSU, She Goes High, Sage Advisors, and more available during every break, serving as connectors and not just as logos on a banner
- The breaks are intentional. The 3:30–5:00 PM coworking blocks on Tuesday and Wednesday are built for the conversations that turn into collaborations; and a partnership with Cohere Community and Angel Kwiatkowski to bring your homework to life with community and a space that's ready for new ideas.
- This year's theme is Organizational Mutual Aid. Bring what you know. Take what you need. Share what you can.

We built this program from the community up. 152 people told us what was keeping them up at night, and the schedule was largely shaped to help solve that problem. Come be part of the conversation.

Tickets from $0, no questions asked. → foundedinfoco.com/attend

03/02/2026

30.5% of NoCo entrepreneurs say marketing & visibility is their #1 challenge. 28.5% say it’s funding & revenue. Nearly 14% are burned out.

Every single one of those challenges has a dedicated session at Founded in FoCo 2026.

March 10–12 | Fort Collins | Tickets from $0

→ https://foundedinfoco.com/attend/

02/20/2026

Founded in FoCo 2026 is back March 10–12 at the Fort Collins Senior Center, with a kickoff March 9 at Visit Fort Collins.

This year’s theme: Organizational Mutual Aid. Bring what you know. Take what you need. Share what you can.

700+ community members. 80+ sessions. Tickets from $0 (no questions asked).
→ https://foundedinfoco.com/attend/
→ https://foundedinfoco.com/schedule/
→ https://foundedinfoco.com/volunteer/

11/29/2025

Founded in FoCo returns March 9-11 to the Fort Collins Senior Center, and we need your help: our theme this year is Organizational Mutual Aid and we want to make sure we line up the right speakers and workshops for you.

Have a few minutes to fill out our quick survey? https://www.eventeny.com/onsite/survey/?e=25080&s=2016

We are also participating in Colorado Gives Day and established up a campaign to help support programming at Founded in FoCo as well as create a matching grant to help small businesses with training, programs, and marketing! Your monthly donations are matched here through December 9th!: https://www.coloradogives.org/story/fifc-2025

A program to develop resources for our small business, nonprofit, creative community.

03/14/2025

Help us do even better in 2026 by taking our survey to guide the future of Founded in FoCo together!

03/13/2025

5PM Tonight (3/13) - Music, Networking, and a Fireside with NoCo Community Foundation! Make sure you stop by for networking, music, quick bites, some mocktails, and insights into our community's economic future. Join us a little bit earlier at 4:15PM and check out our Party-Rockin keynote speaker Eryc Eyl.