InnoSTARS' Colorado Tech Scene Surging to Top

DENVER - March 8, 2019 - PRLog -- The secret's out. InnoSTARS finds a recent scorecard (https://bit.ly/2O02j37) reports exactly what the innovation pitch competition already knew: the Colorado Front Range tech scene is surging to the top.

Three Colorado cities ranking among the tech markets would be no surprise to Heather Potters. InnoSTARS named the company she founded, PharmaJet, Inc. of Golden, Colo., as the 2018 Grand Prize winner.

The co-founder and vice chairman took her needle-less injection technology all the way to China, catapulting the company into a whole new market space.

"Without the InnoSTARS support, we would not have nearly as many potential Chinese partners and investors interested in what PharmaJet is doing," Potters said.

Potters will be among this year's judges for the Denver competition.

Learn more about PharmaJet Inc.: https://pharmajet.com/.

The InnoSTARS competition, hosted by Houston-based US China Innovation Alliance, is a China readiness competition offering cash prizes, meetings with investors and a trip to China.

Tech companies are encouraged to submit the free application before April 7 to compete at the April 25 Denver competition. Applicants from all states are welcome.

Apply to compete in InnoSTARS here: https://innostars.uschinainnovation.org/.

"In Denver, we're focusing on a wide-range of industries, from advanced manufacturing and environmental technology to energy and biopharma," said Min Fan, COO of the US China Innovation Alliance. "We believe tech companies from Colorado and other states between the coasts are up for our pitch challenge and certainly, we've seen enormous talent from their thriving tech hub."

In its third year, InnoSTARS has attracted over 1,000 U.S.-born technology companies seeking to impress in nationwide competitions for a chance to meet face-to-face with potential partners and investors in China.

More than 100 U.S. companies have been selected to participate in the sponsored trips, where they compete in additional rounds and engage in business matching meetings.

In 2018, 72 tech companies competed in the Denver pitch event and ultimately, nine of those companies competed in China.

In total last year, the competition facilitated some 800 business meetings between U.S. companies and Chinese associates, resulting in some partnership and investment agreements.

"We strive to approach the US-China technology and innovation collaboration in a transparent manner and are honored that InnoSTARS has become a trusted bridge between the business communities in the U.S. and China," Fan said. "InnoSTARS offers an accelerated path to China for many U.S. companies that would otherwise not know where to start regarding entering China."

InnoSTARS competition in Denver is proudly supported by partnerships with CrestoneStar Consulting, Innosphere, The Commons on Champa, ColoradoBioScience Association, Rockies Venture Club, University of Colorado-Boulder, Colorado Cleantech Industries Association, Boulder Chamber of Commerce, and Boomtown Accelerators.

InnoSTARS competition applicants are also welcome to marquee event, the 2019 U.S. China Innovation and Investment Summit, which will be held concurrently with the InnoSTARS Houston preliminaries on May 16 - 17 in Houston, Texas.

Learn more about the Summit and US China Innovation Alliance Summit at https://ucis.uschinainnovation.org/.
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About US China Innovation Alliance
The US China Innovation Alliance (UCIA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that promotes innovation collaboration between US and China through the annual US China Innovation & Investment Summit and the InnoSTARS Competition, which is designed to connect U.S.-based technology companies with Chinese partners, service providers, and investors. Learn more: //uschinainnovation.org/ (https://uschinainnovation.org/).