UplinkRobotics<\/a>\u00a0was part of gBETA\u2019s 2024 program, helping the Laramie-based company that\u2019s 3D printing high-tech robots that inspect under homes and other places humans don\u2019t want to go.<\/p>\n![\"Infinite](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Boom-times-Infanite-Outdoors-5.3.26.jpg\")
Infinite Outdoors moved its operations from Colorado to Casper, Wyoming. (Courtesy Infinite Outdoors)Why More Founders Are Choosing Wyoming<\/p>\n
Reports like the deal flow gloss over an important detail: the real people who are making these bets that Wyoming isn\u2019t just a good place to build a business, it\u2019s the absolute right place.<\/p>\n
Sam Seeton, founder of Infinite Outdoors, is a\u00a0great\u00a0example of the kind of human calculations that are going into that determination.<\/p>\n
Seeton\u2019s company uses technology to connect landowners with do-it-yourself hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an Airbnb style of booking, but for outdoor adventures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeton started the company in Colorado, but eventually decided Wyoming was better. He moved both his life and his company to Casper.<\/p>\n
He credits Wyoming for his business\u2019 continued success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be where we are today if it wasn\u2019t for the Wyoming ecosystem and the different opportunities that the local and state programs provide,\u201d he said, highlighting Wyoming\u2019s open access to programs as key.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the access to talk to people, I think, because we\u2019re a smaller state,\u201d\u00a0Seeton said.\u00a0“But it\u2019s everybody at all of the Wyoming Business Council level and the Department of Workforce Service, and even the Impact 307 and all the different startup programs the university does across different communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The competency and the friendliness are unmatched, Seeton said, and Wyoming really cares about clearing bureaucratic red tape.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just get better attention to help you grow a lot quicker,\u201d he said. \u201cWhereas in Colorado, you might not even qualify for those things where you waste a year of your time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where Are The Angels?<\/p>\n
One big challenge Wyoming\u2019s entrepreneurs have faced is the money problem. The climate is sunny and warm, as Seeton outlined.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But when the startup goes to seek funding, all the angel investors want to know is why the company isn\u2019t in Dallas or San Francisco or New Jersey or anywhere besides Wyoming.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a roadblock that Power Theory\u2019s Luke Macy has seen firsthand.<\/p>\n
Macy\u2019s company came out of Impact 307, which is University of Wyoming\u2019s incubator, aimed at encouraging mid-sized manufacturers.<\/p>\n
Macy found startup funding from the Kickstart Grant Program, which offers $5,000 to $50,000 in grants to support high-growth, early-stage businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The program, launched in 2024, is managed through the Wyoming Business Council.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0one of many\u00a0things\u00a0on hold right now, with lawmakers reviewing the Business Council\u2019s funding and performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Kickstart was here, it was very difficult to find pitch competitions or resources around $50,000,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re using our Kickstart funds to improve our technology, validate our technology, and then we\u2019re getting ready to raise (funding) here soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macy also credited the gBETA Wyoming program, as well as a Colorado-based National Science\u00a0Foundation accelerator\u00a0program, with helping his company refine both its business model and its investor pitch.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s ready for the next level, and a run at the state\u2019s biggest obstacle. That\u2019s the lack of angel investors who can help with a first funding round in the $50,000 to $200,000 range.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat just almost doesn\u2019t exist, at least from my experience and what I\u2019ve seen,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so, I think after going through an accelerator phase, and maybe after receiving a kickstart grant, there\u2019s this chasm that startups have to pass through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why High-Growth Startups\u00a0Leave<\/p>\n
Lack of financing is among problems that have caused many high-growth startups to leave Wyoming, Cowboy State Daily has been told in previous interviews.<\/p>\n
Blossom Ko Lumley is\u00a0director\u00a0of Startup Wyoming, a collaborative between Jackson\u2019s Silicon Couloir and the Wyoming Business Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That collaborative was started to strengthen Wyoming\u2019s startup ecosystem, particularly when it comes to high-growth potential companies that can reach national scale.<\/p>\n
Lumley prepared a report looking at Wyoming\u2019s startup culture, to see why so many of the high-growth startups seemed to stall out at a certain point of development and leave.<\/p>\n
What she found was weak \u201cground conditions\u201d for growth-oriented companies. Some of the factors included things like the need for more technical assistance and difficulties in hiring specialized talent, but capital at crucial development stages was also listed as a vital missing link.<\/p>\n
![\"UplinkRobotics](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Uplink-Robotics-main-5.4.24.jpg\")
UplinkRobotics is the result of four University of Wyoming students who leveraged imagination and technology to create a company that’s revolutionizing the inspection industry with some pretty cool robots. (Courtesy Uplink Robotics)Persistence Pays Off<\/p>\n
Estate Scribe founder Tyler Bass has heard the question more than once, as far as why they\u2019re in Wyoming, while seeking investors for his software firm, which automates drafting and repetitive data entry for estate planning attorneys.<\/p>\n
He gets it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smaller, more rural states are riskier bets. He also knows if he located his company in Dallas, where the law firm he\u2019s working with as his first customer is located, he might have an easier time of tapping venture capital.<\/p>\n
But he prefers Wyoming, and so he\u2019s committed himself to finding investors who actively want to place bets on smaller towns across the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0something he\u2019s already had some success doing in the $250,000 range, which is setting his company up for a May 1 start date.<\/p>\n
Wyoming has been an unusually supportive environment for startups, he told Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been great because everybody has been, \u2018Oh yeah, let\u2019s grab coffee. Yes, let\u2019s jump on a Zoom meeting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Then with programs like gBETA, Bass has been able to meet people from across the state wrestling with the same challenges he faces.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve also taken the mindset that we want to bootstrap this company as far as we can,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the end of the day, bringing on investors and stuff like that too early, you can lose control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pouring everything into the company they can, meanwhile, has made them that much more determined to succeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLike it feels like your baby,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ll do anything to make it succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manufacturing Momentum<\/p>\n
Manufacturing Works Director Rocky Case told Cowboy State Daily the manufacturing trend in Wyoming is definitely on the upswing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so far reached 6.5% of gross state product. There\u2019s momentum behind that figure, and he expects it to continue climbing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have the numbers in front of me, but yes, manufacturing in Wyoming is growing,\u201d he told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cYes, it\u2019s a business-friendly climate. And yes, manufacturers in Wyoming or that are considering coming to Wyoming are supporting that broader base of critical manufacturing industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
By \u201ccritical\u201d manufacturing industry, Case is referring to things like the Department of Defense, transportation, energy, and health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to realize Wyoming is a very large state with a very small population,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, what\u2019s going to be our contribution to that critical manufacturing infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian Gross, meanwhile, who has built factories around the world, told Cowboy State Daily Wyoming is always among his top choices when he\u2019s siting a new business.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many things are so easy to do versus the rest of the world,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cAny business filing, almost everything is online. If I have a problem I can\u2019t solve in Wyoming, I can easily go to whatever state office and meet a person who will walk me through the issue and help me to solve it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it is worse or better than before, I don\u2019t know,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut Wyoming is a dream location for doing business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gaps are still real, but Wyoming is clearly winning the business world over, with more and more venture deals.<\/p>\n
Founders more and more are saying even if there are challenges, Wyoming is not just where they want their business to be, it\u2019s the right place.<\/p>\n
In and of itself, that\u2019s strengthening the nutrients that grow businesses.<\/p>\n
Ren\u00e9e Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At a crowded entrepreneurship conference in Riverton, Gov. Mark Gordon had a bold prediction for the Cowboy State.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[114,293,85,46],"class_list":["post-425476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Greg](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Boom-times-Greg-Locke-left-with-Power-Theory-founder-Luke-Macy-hold-sensors-over-their-eyes-5.3.26.j.jpeg\")
Greg Locke left with Power Theory founder Luke Macy hold sensors over their eyes. (Courtesy Photo)Venture Deals Show Building Momentum<\/p>\n