TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

By Bill Wasik, Wired

“In our houses, cars, and factories, we’re surrounded by tiny, intelligent devices that capture data about how we live and what we do. Now they are beginning to talk to one another. Soon we’ll be able to choreograph them to respond to our needs, solve our problems, even save our lives.

On a 5-acre plot in Great Falls, Virginia, less than a mile’s stroll through ex­urban scrub from the wide Potomac River, Alex Hawkinson has breathed life into a lifeless object. He has given his house, a sprawling six-bedroom Tudor, what you might describe as a nervous system: a network linking together the home’s very sinews, its walls and ceilings and windows and doors. He has made these parts move, let them coalesce as a bodily whole, by giving them a way to talk among themselves. Open a telnet session in the house’s digital hub and you can actually spy on his chattering stuff, hear what it says when no one’s listening.”

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Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS, May 10, 2013 — Preventice, Inc., a leading developer of mHealth solutions, announced today the commercial availability of its BodyGuardian Remote Patient Monitoring System (BodyGuardian RMS). Preventice received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2012, enabling the mobile health solutions company to market BodyGuardian for use in detecting and monitoring non-lethal cardiac arrhythmias for ambulatory patients.

Developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, the BodyGuardian System uses sophisticated algorithms to support remote monitoring for individuals with cardiac arrhythmias. The BodyGuardian System allows physicians to monitor key biometrics outside of the clinical setting, while patients go about their daily lives.”

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It became quite clear right away that Minneapolis startup Spark Devices had found a winner with their Spark Core Kickstarter campaign.

The Core “Wi-Fi for everything” kit has since crossed $200k in funding commitments from some 2,400+ backers, and still has 23 days remaining. Today, the company announced some big collaborations designed to maximize the potential applications of Core:

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Less than 90 minutes from launching, the Spark Core on Kickstarter has already amassed some 250+ backers who have pushed the campaign past the $10k minimum campaign target ($14,000 and counting).

Although scaled back, Spark’s reinvention is off to a much stronger start than before, on a trajectory that’s reminiscent of the popular demand surrounding
SmartThings connected device campaign.

“We knew we had something exciting but we didn’t realize how quickly people would jump on board! This is just the beginning, we can’t wait to see how far we can take this,” says Spark Co founder and CEO Zach Supalla. It will be interesting to see where this goes…

Minneapolis startup Spark Devices is back on Kickstarter with Core, a Wi-Fi development board that makes it easier for makers and hackers build internet-connected hardware products. 

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In an age where video games have made mincemeat out of playing the guitar, electrical engineer Dan Sullivan is bringing digital to the traditional with portable guitar Jamstik and mobile learning apps from Zivix.

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Burnsville startup Anser Innovation has intentions of raising a $1.5m equity funding round, with $225k received, according to an SEC disclosure recently filed.

Anser is the parent company of the PetChatz hardware and software platform, a solution for the owners of household pets — dogs and cats — to remotely connect and interact with their companions using a mobile device.

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By Julio Ojeda-Zapata, St. Paul Pioneer Press

“They’re called “pet parents.” They are the extra-devoted animal owners who spare no expense on their dogs and cats. What if they could keep in touch when they’re away from home? For peace of mind, some people have set up webcams with built-in two-way audio to watch and interact with their homebound companions.

Now a Minnesota company has come up with the ultimate petcam — one that dispenses treats and exudes soothing aromas while letting pets and their human masters see and hear each other. Called PetChatz, it can be controlled from afar using a phone app or desktop browser. With the tap of a touchscreen or a keyboard, for instance, the owner can cause a treat to drop from within the device for Fido to gobble up.”

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Bloomington-based ReconRobotics has indicated intentions of fundraising $3m ($252k closed) in convertible debt with the help of BrokerBank Securities.

Initially formed through IP from the University of Minnesota, ReconRobotics designs, manufactures, deploys and supports miniature robotic systems and distributed robotic teams. These robots are specifically designed to provide real time information in hazardous or restricted space areas, for military, police and commercial markets.

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Did you know that Minnesota is home to over a dozen tech companies playing in the wide world of sports?

Underwritten by TST Media, the Game On series explores this local cluster of technology, ranging from startups to the public market.

Moxy Monitor is a hardware and software product by Fortiori Deisgn which applies near-infrared spectroscopy to measure the oxygen levels of an athletes muscles for analysis and optimization.

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