EFCO Press Release 7.11.12

Boulder July 11,2012 – Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) today announced a grant of unrestricted funds to The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County and Rose Community Foundation. The grants, totaling more than $430,000, were made possible by a contribution of profits from Foundry Group and TechStars and the recent initial public offering (IPO) of Jive.

Established in 2007, EFCO is a network of Colorado entrepreneurs whose companies have joined together to give a portion of their founding equity or a portion of their yearly profits to the community. EFCO received equity in Jive when the EFCO member company, Filtrbox, was acquired by Jive in 2010. Foundry Group, a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage information technology companies, has endowed EFCO with a portion of its carried interest.  Foundry is the first VC firm in the country to provide community funding through the EF Network. TechStars, an accelerator program that provides mentoring and investment to startups, also joined EFCO with a commitment of an annual percentage of profit.

“With the increasing activity in mergers and acquisitions, as well as favorable public market offerings, we’re finally witnessing the entrepreneurial seeds of giving and corporate social responsibility that we sowed in the last decade,” said Ryan Martens, Board Chair of EFCO and CTO of Rally Software. “It’s starting to bloom into real community benefits in Colorado. With Foundry and TechStars’ gifts and Jive’s IPO, the grant to EFCO will generate an incredible community benefit that will be felt both in Denver and Boulder for years to come.”

Realizing cash is limited with start-up companies, EFCO works to encourage entrepreneurs throughout the region to earmark equity for their community early in a company’s inception. Upon a private sale or initial public offering, these shares become liquid and transfer into the community. These grants are typically 1 percent of early equity or 1 percent of profits. During the past 13 years, the Entrepreneurs Foundation Network, of which EFCO is an affiliate, has partnered with more than a thousand companies across the United States and Israel.

Together, Foundry Group’s, TechStars’, and Jive’s contributions will amount to $430,073. The Foundry and TechStars gifts are part of long-term commitments to EFCO. The organizations will continue to receive a portion of proceeds from future exits in the Foundry and TechStars portfolio.

“We’re honored that our initial commitment through EFCO has allowed us to make such a significant contribution to our community,” said Seth Levine, managing director of Foundry Group. “We encourage other VC firms to consider EFCO as a way to begin their own philanthropic program.”

“It’s reassuring to know that our contribution through Filtrbox allows us to leave a permanent mark on our community,” said Ari Newman, founder of Filtrbox and former vice president at Jive.

“We’re so appreciative of Foundry Group, TechStars, Filtrbox and Jive for their support,” said Josie Heath, president, The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. “Gifts to the unrestricted grantmaking funds of community foundations are visionary because they are invested strategically in nonprofit organizations that are making the most impact on pressing local issues.”

“We’re pleased to have been selected to receive this generous grant from Filtrbox,” says Sheila Bugdanowitz, Rose Community Foundation president and CEO. “We appreciate when businesses choose to partner with us by contributing to our unrestricted grantmaking funds. This allows Rose Community Foundation to use its local expertise to make strategic philanthropic investments in our community and demonstrate that businesses can and do play an integral part in helping solve community needs.”

The timing of these gifts is particularly sweet for The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, as they come in the final months of a four-year campaign to double the grant-making impact of the Foundation’s unrestricted grantmaking fund, The Community Trust. With these gifts, the campaign has drawn within $250,000 of its $4 million goal.

BOULDER, CO. – November 6, 2009 – PingGadget today announced that it has joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to support philanthropic efforts throughout the community. EFCO allows startup companies to donate a fraction of their equity to Boulder’s Community Foundation during initial stages of liquidity.
While they may want to directly support charities, most startups are not in a financial position to do so. Through EFCO, entrepreneurs can focus on building their business while meeting their philanthropic goals.
“Boulder is a thriving space for social media technology and we are thrilled to be a part of this supportive community. Through EFCO we are able to establish a culture of giving back and allowing the community to share in our success,” said Dennis Moulton, co-founder of PingGadget. “EFCO is dedicated to the long term health and sustainability of Colorado and we want to lend support to that goal.”
Donations from EFCO to the Community Foundation are channeled to various non-profit organizations throughout Colorado, allowing EFCO to focus on working with entrepreneurs to help them meet their philanthropic objectives. Contributing companies simply select a cause, and the Community Foundation takes care of the rest. EFCO is aligned with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel.
“Working with various local initiatives through the Community Foundation, EFCO allows entrepreneurs to support a range of causes from education to the environment,” said Tom Keller, one of the founding trustees of EFCO. “PingGadget’s support helps us to achieve the critical mass of equity donations we need to truly make a difference in our community.”
For additional information about PingGadget, contact Dennis Moulton at dennis@pinggadget.com or visit www.pinggadget.com.
About PingGadget
PingGadget is a next generation microblogging service. The web-based service allows users to connect and converse in real-time with people and the things they care about. The PingGadget service will be available in January 2010. Go to www.pinggadget.com to pre-register.

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Symplified today announced that it has joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to support philanthropic efforts throughout the community. EFCO allows startup companies to donate a fraction of their equity to Boulder’s Community Foundation during initial stages of liquidity.

While they may want to directly support charities, most startups are not in a financial position to do so. Through EFCO, entrepreneurs can focus on building their business while meeting their philanthropic goals.

“Philanthropy, volunteerism and community involvement are core values at Symplified,” said Eric Olden, founder and CEO of Symplified. “EFCO enables us to maintain our company’s commitment to giving back and supporting the local community, at a time when our financial resources are invested in building a company. We are grateful to EFCO for the opportunity to make this contribution.”

Donations from EFCO to the Community Foundation are channeled to various non-profit organizations throughout Colorado, allowing EFCO to focus on working with entrepreneurs to help them meet their philanthropic objectives. Contributing companies simply select a cause, and the Community Foundation takes care of the rest. EFCO is aligned with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel.

“Working with various local initiatives through the Community Foundation, EFCO allows entrepreneurs to support a range of causes from education to the environment,” said Brad Feld, Foundry Group managing director and one of the founding trustees of EFCO. “Symplified’s support helps us to achieve the critical mass of equity donations we need to truly make a difference in our community.”

About Symplified

Symplified’s vision is to enable Enterprise 2.0 to adopt cloud computing by providing the identity infrastructure for the On Demand world. Symplified was founded by the same management team that created Securant, which pioneered the market for Web access management software and was acquired for $140M by RSA Security. The company has developed revolutionary technology that addresses the complexity and cost associated with monolithic software approaches to Web identity management. Venture funding for the company was provided by Granite Ventures and Allegis Capital. Symplified is headquartered in Boulder, Colo., with offices in Palo Alto, Calif. Visit us on the web at www.symplified.com.

Zuzingo Inc. the creators of the Zenie Bottle, a new entertainment experience for young-adults, today announced their participation in the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO).

The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado encourages early stage and start-up companies to donate 1% of their equity which enables the foundation to participate in the growth of the company. While many founders wish to participate in philanthropic activities, they usually remain focused on the operations and growth of their businesses. The EFCO is a simple way for the hard work of entrepreneurs to translate into real philanthropic benefits to the communities that support their business.

“Colorado and Boulder specifically, is a fantastic environment to start a new company,” said Paul Berberian, CEO of Zuzingo. “With the support of the community and local businesses this is a simple and welcomed way to express our gratitude for their support.”

Upon the sale of the company or other liquidity event, the cash or stock that has been given by the company will be distributed, allowing the Community Foundation to respond to the community’s greatest needs and opportunities.

The Community Foundation’s primary goal is to offer grants to various non-profits. Understanding the needs of the community and allocating assets appropriately, a member of EFCO merely selects a cause, and the Community Foundation takes care of the rest.

EFCO is aligned with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel.

About Zuzingo
Zuzingo Inc. is the creator of the Zenie Bottle. Zenie Bottle is a new entertainment experience for young-adults that combines an online media sharing web site with an episodic web series centered around a very special and mysterious real world object – a Zenie Bottle.

For more information about Zenie Bottle or to sign up for a free account, please visit www.zeniebottle.com.

BOULDER, Colo., December 10, 2007 – The developers of Fuser.com, an innovative online tool that enables Internet users to consolidate their e-mail and social networking accounts into a single online inbox, announced its plans to give back to Colorado’s local entrepreneurial community through the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO).

Founded by four of Colorado’s own entrepreneurial success stories – Tendril, Rally Software, Collective Intellect and Me.dium – EFCO encourages Colorado start-ups to give back to their local business communities through equity donations. By pledging to donate one percent of Fuser’s overall equity to EFCO’s endowment fund, the company aims to help other Colorado-based start-ups reach their own level of success. Through EFCO’s endowment fund, Fuser has chosen to support The Community Foundation serving Boulder County and The Denver Foundation through the company’s donation.

“Colorado has long been hailed by entrepreneurs as a community that passionately supports innovative ideas and strong leaders,” said Jeff Herman, president of Fuser. “We greatly appreciate the support we’ve received from the local business community and are excited to repay some of that support in a way that will benefit our start-up peers.”

Founded in 2006, Fuser is the vision of Jared Polis, a renowned Colorado-based consumer Internet and e-commerce entrepreneur, who developed the idea for Fuser after finding himself frustrated with the amount of time he spent checking his multiple e-mail and social networking accounts.

Fuser.com enables Internet users to consolidate their e-mail and social networking accounts into a single online inbox. By providing a secure virtual command center for their Internet communications – including Yahoo! ^®, Gmail^®, MySpace^®, Facebook^®, non-web e-mail accounts and many more – Fuser.com helps Internet users simplify their digital communications and make the most of their online time.

After a successful debut in late September, Fuser.com recently released a revised version of the tool. The latest version offers users improved speed and performance, as well as support for Earthlink, .Mac and Juno e-mail accounts.

For more information about Fuser or to sign up for a free Fuser.com account, visit www.fuser.com.

About Fuser

Got more than one e-mail address and/or social networking account? Simplify your online life with Fuser.com, a free online tool that allows you to check all your e-mail and social networking accounts at one place. You no longer need to waste time with multiple Web sites and logins to communicate with your friends, family and colleagues. Fuser.com relieves the pressure of juggling multiple accounts by providing an easy, secure way to stay on top of your digital communications. To learn more about how Fuser.com can change your digital life, go to www.fuser.com and sign up today.

###

©2007, Confluence Commons, Inc. (d/b/a Fuser). All rights reserved. Fuser and the Fuser character, Fusie, are trademarks of Fuser. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Boulder-based Gold Systems has teamed with the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO) to support philanthropic efforts throughout the community.

EFCO allows companies to donate a small fraction of equity, which is donated to Boulder’s Community Foundation during initial stages of liquidity. Start-ups are fully focused on operations and growth of their businesses. While they may want to directly support charities, they are not in a financial position to do so. Through EFCO, entrepreneurs can focus on building their business without abandoning their philanthropic goals.

“Gold Systems has been involved in philanthropic activities in the Boulder community since our inception,” said Terry Gold, CEO of voice technology integrator Gold Systems. “EFCO provides a unique and crucial service to the Boulder Community and businesses. It’s typically not the lack of philanthropic spirit among new entrepreneurs but a lack of resources and direction that prevents outreach among start-ups. EFCO provides direction and support without monopolizing capital during this critical phase.”

Not just for start-ups, Gold Systems’ involvement represents a glowing review for EFCO from an established company. Gold Systems is one of many companies that are joining forces to set an example for start-ups throughout Colorado’s Front Range. Donations from EFCO to the Community Foundation are channeled through various non-profits throughout Colorado. Supporting an established philanthropic foundation allows EFCO to focus on rounding up and supporting entrepreneurs and their philanthropic wishes.

“Supporting various local initiatives through the Community Foundation, EFCO allows entrepreneurs to support a range of causes ranging from education to the environment,” said Brad Feld, Foundry Group managing director and one of the founding trustees of EFCO. “When a company such as Gold Systems makes an equity donation, they’re truly making an investment in our community.”

The Community Foundation’s primary goal is to offer grants to various non-profits. Understanding needs of the community and allocating assets appropriately, a member of EFCO merely selects a cause, and the Community Foundation takes care of the rest.

EFCO is aligned with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel.

About Gold Systems

Through its award-winning products and services, Gold Systems helps its customers identify where productivity can be improved with voice-driven solutions. The company’s unified communications implementation services, as well as its self-service speech recognition solutions, allow businesses to improve productivity and profitability. Gold Systems is a top-tier partner to leading speech and messaging vendors, including Microsoft, Avaya and Nuance. Since 1991, Gold Systems software has automated more than 1 billion telephone calls around the world.

More information about Gold Systems can be found at www.goldsys.com or by calling 303-447-2774 and saying “information.”

Boulder, Colorado- October 3, 2007- ClickCaster Inc., a provider of world class IPTV & Media Middleware Platforms announces its support in EFCO, the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado.

The company has pledged to donate one percent of its overall equity to EFCO, a program targeted at angel and VC backed companies based in Colorado. The organization is focused on creating an endowment that let’s young companies, through the gift of their equity, give back to the communities we live and work in.

“We learned about EFCO several months ago and decided on the spot to participate as soon as it made sense” says ClickCaster’s CEO, Scott Converse. “Being part of the local community and giving back to the different institutions, organizations and entities that make Colorado such a great place to start a company is something every young company should consider doing”.

ClickCaster is joining a growing group of Colorado based early stage companies in helping to build a permanent endowment to provide community grants for arts, civic involvement, education, the environment, and health and human services. Upon a liquidity event, the cash or stock that has been given by participating companies will be distributed to the appropriate Community Foundations.

About ClickCaster Inc.
ClickCaster Inc. was incorporated in Sept. of 2006. ClickCaster’s technology has matured into a premier media middleware platforms with the ability to handle virtually any media type available today. With an emphasis on IPTV, ClickCaster and it’s partners provide server and client device products and services to meet the most demanding needs of our customers. ClickCaster was founded by Scott Converse. He brings his expertise from companies such as Apple Computer, Paramount Pictures, Motorola and MCI to create the best media delivery platform products in our targeted markets available today. www.clickcaster.com/about

About Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado:
Four companies – Tendril, Rally Software, Collective Intellect and Me.dium – are the founding grantors for the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado. The founding trustees are Brad Feld (Foundry Group), Kyle Lefkoff (Boulder Ventures), Tim Connor (Sequel Venture Partners), Ryan Martens (Rally Software), Bill Roberts (Hogan & Hartson), and Michael Platt (Cooley Godward Kronish). In addition, the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado has formed an alliance with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel. www.efcolorado.org

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Solidware Technologies®, Inc., a provider of a software quality engineering and audit platform, has announced today its participation in a new philanthropic program designed to endow Colorado through investment by angel and venture-backed companies.

Called The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, the program encourages early stage companies to donate equity, thereby allowing the foundation to participate in the growth of the company. Upon a liquidity event, the cash or stock that has been given by the companies will be distributed allowing the appropriate Community Foundations to respond to the community’s greatest needs and opportunities, now and in the future.

“Solidware is excited to be a part of this program,” says Sue Kunz, Solidware CEO. “We’ve made our home here because of the lifestyle Colorado affords us, and we want to ensure that this lifestyle can continue for future generations.”

With support from Solidware Technologies and others, including TechStars, Rally Software, Me.dium and NewsGator, The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado is building a permanent endowment that will provide grants for education, the arts, civic involvement, the environment, and health and human services. “Solidware has received much support from the community, so donating equity in our company ensures the cycle of giving stays alive,” says Kunz.

About Solidware

Solidware Technologies®, Inc. (www.solidw.com) delivers software solutions for rapidly identifying risk in code, focusing its customers on what’s objective and actionable. Solidware has developed a software quality engineering platform, SWaudit™, which automates code audits to support proactive decision-making and risk mitigation, and is ideal for continuously assessing in-house software readiness, performing M&A due diligence, assuring software quality, and evaluating code, whether outsourced, open source, reused, or acquired.

SWaudit enables improved quality and predictability while saving time and cost and managing risk across all levels of organizations. Solidware deploys software-as-a-service (SaaS) hosted solutions as well as subscription-based on premise solutions for its customers.

Giving Back to Colorado’s Entrepreneurial Community Starts Early at Lijit.

Louisville, CO (PRWeb) October 1, 2007 — Lijit Networks, Inc., a company that provides revolutionary search tools and statistics for blog publishers, has pledged to donate one percent of its overall equity to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, a philanthropic program targeted at angel- and venture capital-backed companies based in Colorado. The program’s mission is to help Colorado entrepreneurs contribute to the long term health and sustainability of Colorado early in the creation of their companies.

The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado is unique in that it encourages philanthropic activity in the very early stages of a company’s formation, instead of waiting to undertake those activities once an organization has become successful. “Our one percent pledge allows us to share our future success with the community that has been so critical to our success to date,” remarks Lijit’s CEO, Todd Vernon. “Our employees and investors are proud to participate in this program, which will help foster a culture of giving within our young organization.” Lijit joins TechStars, along with the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado founding member companies, in helping to build a permanent endowment to provide community grants for arts, civic involvement, education, the environment, and health and human services. Upon a liquidity event, the cash or stock that has been given by participating companies will be distributed to the appropriate Community Foundations.

About Lijit Networks, Inc.:
Lijit Networks, Inc. was incorporated in June 2006. The Lijit service was developed to search people, their content, and connections in order to deliver search results with unprecedented relevance. The company is led by Todd Vernon, CEO. Vernon, a founder and former CTO of Raindance Communications, brings to the team his management experience in the high-tech sector and enthusiasm for leading-edge web technologies. Stan James, founder and CTO of Lijit, brings years of research in social trust and a portfolio of intellectual property in the space. www.lijit.com

About Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado:
Four companies – Tendril, Rally Software, Collective Intellect and Me.dium – are the founding grantors for the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado. The founding trustees are Brad Feld (Foundry Group), Kyle Lefkoff (Boulder Ventures), Tim Connor (Sequel Venture Partners), Ryan Martens (Rally Software), Bill Roberts (Hogan & Hartson), and Michael Platt (Cooley Godward Kronish). In addition, the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado has formed an alliance with the Entrepreneurs Foundation, an organization formed in 1988 with affiliates in Silicon Valley, Austin, Southern California, New England, Dallas, Portland, Atlanta, Hawaii and Israel. www.efcolorado.org

BOULDER, Colo., March 28 /PRNewswire/ — TechStars, the entrepreneurial program that will jump-start 10 new companies in Boulder this summer, has pledged to donate 1% of its overall equity to the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado (EFCO).

With the deadline for applications approaching on March 31, the entrepreneur teams will be selected from the best ideas submitted by nearly 300 new company founders, all vying for up to $15,000 in seed capital, access to national industry experts, and the chance to pitch their ideas to investors in August.

The for-profit TechStars takes a 5% equity stake in each of the 10 start-up companies, and will donate 1% of those shares to the non-profit EFCO.

“We’re vested in the success of these companies,” said David Cohen, TechStars executive director. “TechStars’ and EFCO’s mutual goals are to instill the value of giving back, and to engage companies early on to become part of Colorado’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

“Profits and philanthropy should work hand in hand, and be part of every business model,” said Brad Feld, Foundry Group managing director and one of the founding trustees of EFCO. “Our investment approach with TechStars reflects this ethic.”

TechStars was founded by several of the region’s most prominent entrepreneurs: David Cohen, David Brown, Brad Feld and Jared Polis. The winning applicants will have access to everything from office space to technical, operational, financial, marketing, sales and legal advice from the best entrepreneurial minds in the country.

Sponsors and supporters include CTEK Angels, Cooley Godward Kronish, ViaWest, Metzger Associates, the University of Colorado and Denver University.

For more information, visit http://www.techstars.org and http://www.efcolorado.org