TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Their website may not be ready, but their checkbooks are.

Gopher Angels is blossoming in terms of members, meetings and appetite, according to Managing Director David Russick.

The nascent group of organized local angel investors is hosting an invitation only event for seed stage tech companies on the afternoon of May 3rd at the U of M’s Carlson School of Management. An estimated 20 angels, guests and board members — “many of which either come from or are interested in tech” — will be there when three local startups have the floor for eight minutes.

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A new local startup is brewing if this plus this equals anything.

“A social catalog for enthusiasts,” followed by “request an invitation,” and supported by a vivid  slideshow of various activities that I’d rather be doing than writing this is all we get for now.

Appears as though 8thBridge co founder and former Target.com / Fingerhut exec Brian Howe is involved with Thrill On.

Chanhassen’s Indigo Identityware is raising more cash money, according to a SEC disclosure that indicates $200k of a $750k target round has been banked.

The company creates a variety of security software from biometric fingerprint recognition to mobile SSO and RFID for hospitals, banks, police stations, homes and other enterprise environments.  It is estimated to be capitalized between $3m – $5m.

Plymouth-based software startup Rocket Surgeon Entertainment recently disclosed intentions of raising $2m in equity for the creation of “projects in the social media persistent game arena.”

“Rocket Surgeon Entertainment is a newly formed group of video and computer gaming veterans with well over 100 years of combined game developing experience, producing and developing on PCs, consoles, handhelds and mobile,” says the website, further noting “RSE is finishing the seed round, and moving on Round 1 rapidly.”

The company is led by CEO Shel Mann, a U of M grad who also helms multi-platform software producer Big Island Publishing. Mann notes that the company has already raised $1.1m

“This spring we are launching a social media persistent game entitled For The People-Fantasy Politics. This first game in our platform is timed to coincide perfectly with the upcoming 2012 election and will include a patent pending polling technology. We have garnered significant interest from Washington DC and Silicon Valley for our efforts.”

In spring of 2010, the Minnesota legislature passed a historic bill aimed at spurring early-stage investment in Minnesota startups through a 25% refundable tax credit for qualified investments in qualified companies.

With $60m budgeted over 5 years, the  “Angel Investor Tax Credit” (AITC) allocated up to $11 million in credits for 2010, with $12 million in annual credits for 2011 through 2014, and a sunset scheduled Jan 1, 2015.

“We’ve passed the baton onto you,” Sen. Kathy Saltzman (D-Woodbury) said at the time, referring to the entrepreneurs and investors who rallied for the cause.  And use it they did.

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Updated 2/27 10:47 – contrary to the $1m stated on the SEC filing, this A round is actually targeting $2m.

Minneapolis’ machine-to-machine (M2M) SaaS startup Exosite is embarking on a $1m $2m A round of financing, according to disclosure recently filed with the SEC.

The company’s ‘One Platform‘ connects devices, networks and users via the cloud to collect real time data from remote sources.  ‘Portals’ is a white label web application that bolts on top the One Platform and allows for interaction the devices & data, while  ‘UpLink’ and ‘InTime’ offer more specialized solutions for industrial installations and manufacturing facilities.

Exosite’s ambitions dovetail with a broader movement: the Internet of things where an integrated future permeates our everyday lives.

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Via News Release

“MINNETONKA, Minn.—(Feb. 06, 2012)—Datacard Group, the world leader in secure ID and card personalization solutions, today announced an equity investment and strategic partnership with DeviceFidelity, Inc. – a company that develops Near Field Communications (NFC) based plug-and-play technologies, services and payment applications for mobile devices worldwide.”

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If ever there was a sign of a hot market, this is it.

The latest figures gathered by TECHdotMN show that the volume of dollars invested into Minnesota tech ventures doubled year over year, from $60m in 2010 to over $126m in 2011, respectively.

This data includes IT, Web, Mobile, SaaS and hardware companies reporting investment rounds in excess of $25,000 and does not account for unreported or undisclosed transactions.

Notable deals of the year include Ability Network’s $27m round, Cima NanoTech’s $15m D round, 8thBridge’s $10m series B, RedBrick Health’s $5.7m raise, and TST Media’s $3.5m Series B. All in all, 63 unique companies raised capital throughout 2011.

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By Leena Rao, TechCrunch

“Code 42 Software, a Minnesota-based online backup company for consumers, businesses and the enterprise, has raised $52.5 million in funding led by Accel Partners with participation from Split Rock Partners.

This is the first major investment from Accel’s recently announced Big Data Fund, which is dedicated to funding infrastructure and application companies in “Big Data.” This is the first round of institutional investing for Code 42.”

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(Radically patient)

(full press release)