Coolerado.

• Position: TO WATCH

SNAPSHOT: Denver-based Coolerado Corp. develops, manufactures and sells innovative air conditioners that use one-fifth or less of the energy required by the most efficient conventional systems.

LEADERSHIP: Mike Luby became CEO in 2008. The company was founded in 2004 and installed its first air-conditioning system that year.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

WORK FORCE: Coolerado had 48 full-time equivalent employees and expects to increase to 84 workers in 2010.

PIVOTAL MOMENTS: Coolerado received four patents for its Heat and Mass Exchanger (HMX). The second pivotal moment was the installation of air conditioners in an office building and school in 2004, leading to the prestigious R&D 100 Award and kicking off the first HMX production line. The company's development of a hybrid system that cools and dehumidifies enables it to sell in humid...