Household compost bin full of food waste
Sign in front of grassy field that says "Welcome to Colorful Colorado"

NextCycle Colorado

woman pointing at post it notes on wall in front of a group of people in an office
Hands sorting recyclables on a conveyor belt at a materials recovery facility
Starry night sky with silhouette of mountains and trees
Panorama of presenter on stage and crowd watching at the NextCycle Colorado pitch showcase event

Program Background

NextCycle is designed to promote circular economy-based ventures and foster innovation in sustainable design, reuse, repair, compost, recycling or material recovery solutions for end markets in Colorado. Funding for NextCycle Colorado is provided by C3.

Applicants are selected for a six-month business accelerator program to advance their ventures.

  • 42

    Teams Supported

  • $3M

    Of Funding Awarded

  • $80M

    In Additional Investments

  • 83%

    Teams Still In Business Today

NextCycle Colorado Provides:

  • Business and Technical Development

  • Customized Mentorship

  • Pitch Competition Event with Cash Prize

  • Investment and Funding Matchmaking

  • Brand Recognition and Publicity

What’s Included

  • No-cost consulting support provided by Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) and project subject matter experts (SMEs).

  • A multi-day business planning-focused bootcamp with travel and attendance costs covered by the NextCycle Colorado program.

  • Participation in a Pitch Competition to potential funders, investors, partners, and community leaders.

  • Access to subject matter expertise from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), including experts in material processing, infrastructure, manufacturing, finance, risk assessment, partnerships, and market development.

Who Should Apply

  • Businesses, entrepreneurs, universities, tribal entities, public agencies, and non-profits with investable project ideas are all eligible to apply. A project team can consist of a person or company, or it may include a collaboration of entities.

  • Out-of-state organizations can apply, but the end market project must be based in Colorado and advance end market developing in Colorado.

Project Eligibility

  • Projects must directly improve existing end markets or create new end markets for recycled or composted materials in Colorado.

  • Project leads do not need to be headquartered in Colorado at the time of application, but to be accepted, the project or business idea must be implemented and based in Colorado.

  • Projects must show the potential to be financially sustainable within Colorado’s economic landscape.

  • Projects must demonstrate a measurable and/or scalable impact to Colorado’s waste diversion goals.

  • There is no maximum or minimum project size, and there is no preferred geographic distribution of projects within Colorado.

  • Entities who have received previous RREO or FRWD (now C3) grant funding are not eligible for NextCycle.

  • Projects that involve the combustion of municipal solid waste (MSW) for energy are not eligible.

  • Projects that collect materials but do not process the collected materials are not eligible.

  • Foundational research and feasibility studies are not eligible. Pilot projects may be considered eligible.

Next Steps

Join NextCycle 2024/2025. Applications are currently open!

  • Sign up—Join the mailing list to receive updates.

  • Reach out—Schedule office hours with the NextCycle Colorado program team to learn more about how to get involved.

  • Review the Application Packet and apply by December 4, 2024, on or before 5:00 PM Mountain Time. Applications must be submitted electronically to nextcycle.submissions@recycle.com. The email must include ‘Application’ in the subject line. Each team’s application must be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF formats.

NextCycle 2024/2025 Timeline

October 23, 2024
Application Period Opens

December 4, 2024
Application Period Closes

January 2025
Teams Selected

March 2025
Boot Camp

January-April 2025
Programming and Business Consutling

May 2025
Pitch Showcase