Press Release: Smart Futures Lab Hosts 3rd Annual Demo Day Showcasing Smart City Innovation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Smart Futures Lab Hosts 3rd Annual Demo Day Showcasing Smart City Innovation

DENVER, CO —August 22, 2023 — Some of the boldest tech entrepreneurs from Colorado and beyond take center stage at this year’s Smart Future Lab Demo Day, to pitch real-world, smart-city solutions to a panel of public-sector leaders and industry experts. After seven months in the Lab’s free accelerator, these New Majority founders are ready to show their cutting-edge ideas.

This year’s Demo Day highlights tech aimed at solving urban challenges—from infrastructure and energy to mobility and public safety. Founders will present their innovations to city agencies, municipalities, and government representatives for feedback, launch pilot opportunities, and potential partnerships.

Based out of the University of Colorado Denver College of Engineering, Design, and Computing, the Smart Futures Lab, provides direct access to mentorship, curriculum, workspace, and expert guidance for underrepresented founders and is a no-cost program designed to level the playing field. The program was created in partnership with Colorado Smart Cities Alliance and Innosphere Ventures, funded by a  $2 million US Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to boost startups and entrepreneurs in the civic innovation space.

“Program members have been gearing up for Demo Day through hands-on mentorship, business planning workshops, and roundtable discussions led by industry experts,” said Michelle Hardy, Marketing Program Manager at Smart Futures Lab. “The Lab takes pride in being able to offer all these resources under one roof.”

In just two years, Smart Futures Lab has served 29 companies, supported its founders to secure $14.5 million in combined investment and revenue, and launched 21 pilot opportunities in collaboration with 40+ public-sector partners, through its strategic alliance with the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance (CSCA). These innovations fuel economic growth by sparking new technological developments, attracting investment, creating jobs, and delivering practical solutions that improve cities.

This year’s cohort includes founders from CU Boulder, Navy Veterans, and the developers  of the industry’s first hydrogen-powered electric vehicle charger. It also features FLOX, a wildlife deterrent tech company from Sweden, expanding the Lab’s international footprint.

Event DetailsLocation: Lawrence Street Center, 1380 Lawrence St, Terrace Room, Denver, CO 80204Date:  Friday, August 22, 2025 from 10am-3pmMore Info: https://www.smartfutureslab.com/post/demo-day-2025-upcoming-event-august-22nd

About the Companies

Incubator Companies

Bimefy | Denver, CO Founders: Jo Van Oosterwyck & Mahen De BeuleBimefy is a cutting-edge SaaS platform that revolutionizes collaboration and progress monitoring in the construction and Building Information Modeling (BIM) industry. Founded in April 2023, Bimefy combines AI and digital twin technologies to streamline workflows, enhance project visibility, and drive efficiency for construction professionals.

Arterial | Boulder, CO Founders: CU Boulder students Wade Turner and Kyle Wandishin Arterial is an AI-powered camera system that can be mounted in existing city fleet vehicles to automatically detect and report road hazards, such as potholes, as a part of daily operations. With integrated hazard size and severity analysis, they enable crews ​to proactively and efficiently conduct road maintenance.

Boomerang Fleets | Denver, CO Founder: Victoria Brunner and Ken Fisher Boomerang Fleets is a full-service privately shared electric bikes fleet provider, designed for multi-family communities, hospitality groups, and municipalities for their residents and members. They handle everything from setting up the bikes and docking stations to providing ongoing maintenance and support, with the goal of reducing single-occupancy car trips by providing affordable and clean micro-mobility options in urban areas.

Agami Zero, Inc. | Boulder, CO Founders: Jafar Makrani and Lyle Antieau Agami Zero is accelerating the transition to a hydrogen-powered world by developing cutting-edge hydrogen equipment and infrastructure solutions. Their mission is to lower costs, increase efficiency, and expand market adoption to help industries decarbonize at scale.

Aeralytic LLC | Denver, CO Founders: Giovanni Cordova Aeralytic has developed a next-generation air monitoring solution offering a 10,000x to 100,000x improvement in resolution over traditional systems. Using advanced mobile sensors, the platform identifies emission sources, delivers hyperlocal insights, tracks pollution trends, and enhances predictive modeling. Designed for researchers, policymakers, and communities, Aeralytic provides the high-resolution data needed for informed, data-driven environmental action.

Accelerator Companies

Flox | Stockholm, Sweden Founders: Sara Nozkova and Tomas Becklin Flox transforms global wildlife interactions using autonomous technologies built on generative AI and wildlife science. From railways to airp[orts, fields and public spaces, Flox simplifies wildlife management workflows and helps organizations keep wild animals away from areas where they pose risks to themselves or others.

Ripple Two | Charleston, S.C. Founders: Andrew McMillen, Whit Slagsvol, Ian Bowers, and Aaron Davis Ripple Two equips law enforcement and public safety agencies with secure communications and interoperable situational awareness solutions for effective control of dynamic situations.

ATLAS Traffic Technologies LLC | Denver, CO Founders: Nick Borrego, Calvin Tran, Valeri Chichinadze ATLAS is creating the world’s first all-in-one collaborative, centralized, and customizable traffic management solution. The platform aims to save lives, get you from Point A to Point B faster, reduce taxpayer costs, and deliver real-time and refined data to help cities optimize traffic flow.

BizzTech | Round Rock, TX Founders: Jason Shuster, Dirk Schmidt, and Rosi Vieira BizzTech is a technology company focused on creating immersive digital environments for urban planning and governance through its innovative AI powered Metaverse platform. Their Metaverse platform integrates omniverse tools, IoT, AI, and advanced security. BizzTech’s solutions empower governments and enterprises to visualize, plan, and manage urban spaces in a more connected and responsive way.

Aquantix | Boulder, CO Founders: Riley Mulhern Aquantix provides a cloud-connected platform for remotely monitoring water filters across large facilities. Its network of sensors and integrated tracking software helps to visualize and optimize maintenance decisions.

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About the University of Colorado Denver Millions of moments start at CU Denver, a place where innovation, research, and learning meet in the heart of a global city. We’re the state’s premier public urban research university with more than 100 in-demand, top-ranked bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs. We partner with diverse learners—at any stage of their life and career—for transformative educational experiences. Across seven schools and colleges, our leading faculty inspires and works alongside students to solve complex challenges and produce impactful, creative work. As part of the state’s largest university system, CU Denver is a major contributor to the Colorado economy, with 2,000 employees and an annual economic impact of $800 million. To learn more about how CU Denver helps learners meet their moment, visit ucdenver.edu.

About Colorado Smart Cities Alliance The Colorado Smart Cities Alliance is the first state-wide alliance of its kind in the nation, bringing together public, private, federal research, and academic sector leaders committed to advancing smarter communities. Through partnership development, education and capacity-building, the Alliance has facilitated some of the most innovative government technology projects in the state.

About Innosphere Ventures Innosphere’s non-profit accelerator program has a strong mission to grow the region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem by supporting the success of science and technology companies with an exclusive commercialization program for high-tech startups and specialized laboratory facilities. To learn more, please visit https://innosphereventures.org.

Media Contact Michelle Hardy Marketing Program Manager Smart Futures Lab michelle.hardy@ucdenver.edu 720-766-6542