MESH FORT COLLINS is a great new community for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs in the region.  You might know that it took over the space formerly occupied by Galvanize at 242 Linden Street.

Mesh is an expansion of an idea that’s seen success in Japan as Future Venture Capital Ltd.  FVC Americas was established last year to become the hub in northern Colorado for startups with great potential.

I’ve been following the local startup scene for several years, so it’s exciting to hear that Mesh is not just serving the high tech market.  They’re helping businesses in all industries, even those who aren’t getting all the press these days.

After all, there are great new companies in all corners of the economy.

I had a chance to talk with Jessica Rawley, Mesh’s campus director.  She told me the whirlwind history of how FVC Japan worked at top speed to take over the space starting January 1st 2017.

Led by Denny Otsuga, Mesh is providing continuity for tenants, support for skill development, partnership support, and a wide variety of services for the local venture community.

As Jess said, “the building is just a box, but it’s an important box.”  Within this space, entrepreneurs are connecting to each other, with investors, with mentors, and with partners.  They are engaging potential employees to quickly develop the success they envision.

This is an exciting mission for Mesh, but there’s a lot to do.

The focus right now is on building the important relationships – not only with startups as potential tenants, but with the larger community of supporters, knowledge sources, and partners.  They’re working to put a lot of the basic systems in place.

Very much like what they’ll help entrepreneurs with!

And working with this community, they’ll be bringing in and building the education and mentoring programs which will be most valued.

It’s an exciting time to be a startup in Fort Collins!