Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere and Principal Investigator of the NSF ASCEND Engine, will share how Colorado is building one of the country's most productive innovation ecosystems — and what comes next.
Innosphere has helped launch more than 400 science and technology companies, contributing to $3.6 billion raised, $300 million in revenue, and over 2,000 jobs across the region, in partnership with 15 universities. Mike will introduce the recently announced $60 million NSF ASCEND Engine, a Colorado–Wyoming initiative advancing sensing and computation technologies for wildfire detection, water management, and other environmental challenges facing the West. He'll discuss what this means for our region's startups, universities, federal labs, and workforce —and why the Mountain West is emerging as a national hub for deep-tech innovation.