TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

CaSTT (Commerce and Search for Technology Transfer) is a SaaS e-commerce engine and marketing platform which enables universities, R & D Labs and hospitals that conduct research to efficiently package and license their intellectual property (IP) over the web.

Industry can search for, gather information about and actually license technologies without the need for human intervention, phone calls, or negotiation. And it’s well timed for a nation that’s struggling with the challenges of bringing IP to market faster.

The technology was extracted from its University of Minnesota Office of Technology and Commercialization (U of M OTC) origins last August and is currently being refined  as GovDelivery Director of Finance Darren Gerke settles in as  co founder while investor Tom Kieffer assumes the board chair.  Check out our Local Startup Spotlight (LSS) podcast with co founder and Chief Evangelist Darren Cox to hear the CaSTT story in all it’s glory!

If your Facebook friends are relatively boring, you’re not alone.

New Minnesota startup SocialSamba sets out to bring big name characters from TV, movies, books, sports and brands to life through a robust Facebook application based on ‘scripted social networks.’ The technology enables fans to friend characters in a story and experience what it is like to be part of a social network with entertaining (yet imaginary) friends.

Fans use the application to access and participate in a professionally written scripted experience for a limited time (usually 2-6 weeks), experiencing a story with the characters of choice, say for example: Lady Gaga, George Costanza or Homer Simpson.  The posts in the scripted social network playback in real-time and the story unfolds like real life in Facebook — a ‘choose your own adventure’ of sorts.

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Behind all the talk about innovation, startups and entrepreneurship in Minnesota are two men who have (modestly) been building the local tech community for years through a series of initiatives culminating under the brand umbrella Minne*.

It started back in 2006 with Minnesota’s first barcamp unconference aka MinneBar, followed by “show and tell” MinneDemo (next up: Jan 13), and more recently the introduction of MinneSpark.

“When we created barcamp, I had no idea what Minne* was going to be…I just thought Minnesota needed a barcamp…and we had one and it was a good time…then Luke Francl and Dan [Grigsby] picked up the Demo events, and it became a number of events and we needed something to support all these things,” says Minne* Catalyst Ben Edwards.

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Justin Kaufenberg’s entrepreneurial blood has been flowing since the days when his family would gather for the monthly “make dad rich” meetings.

“By the time I was 18 years old and off to college — the idea of ever going working for someone else was just a non option — it was really a foregone conclusion at that point that I was going to do something for myself,” he asserts.

While in college at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire studying economics,  Justin met designer/developer Carson Kipfer and the duo quickly setup shop and launched Third North Creative (Third Floor North Wing in Murray Hall).  The custom web development business was growing during the first two years, as was the desire to “own and iterate on a single product.”

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As a subsidiary of Capella Education Company (NASDAQ: CPLA), Minneapolis-based Capella University is Minnesota’s third-largest University based on enrollment — and it’s all done online.

Founded in 1993, Capella University offers accredited graduate degree programs in the fields of business, information technology, education, human services, public health, public safety, and psychology, as well as bachelor’s degree programs in the fields of business, information technology, and public safety.  More than 38,000 students are currently enrolled, representing all 50 states and 52 countries.
Seventy-eight percent are pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees.

Keith Koch is vice president of next generation learning where he leads Capella University’s award-winning efforts to provide a high-quality and relevant online user experience for Capella learners and faculty.

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OptiMine Software is a Chanhassen-based data mining and intelligence startup applied in the advertising and media optimization space.

The company’s current product, OptiMine Paid Search Bid Management, forecasts the daily performance of online paid search ad placement and automatically sets optimal future bids. “Everyday the software fires up, it pulls in all the data through yesterday and basically simulates tomorrow,” says CTO & Co-founder Rob Cooley.

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There’s no disputing the ripple effect that just one new startup company can have on a community, city, or even an entire state.*

And for those seeking of a vote of confidence in the future of Minnesota tech (or some milestones to emulate) — look no further than Alvenda.  Digging deeper, hear how Co-founding CEO Wade Gerten played off his Retek roots to identify and build the team behind an ambitious idea that would “make history” in July 2009 by bringing retail to Facebook  for the first time.

Tune in for the details around how this startup was coronated the Minnesota Cup Grand Prize Winner in September 2009 and leveraged that momentum to raise $5m series A from Minnesota Venture Capital firm Split Rock Partners just two months later.   Fast forward to August 2010 and hear Wade describe how Alvenda would further distinguish itself through another first:  enabling air travelers to book flights through Facebook. What’s next?

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Brent Gensler began traveling to China at age 19 to explore new fabric manufacturers for his parents’ upholstery business, which has been in the family since 1950.   A few years down the road and fresh off a business degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Brent started going back to China…only this time it was to scout manufacturers for his own company.

In April of 2008, Brent launched Defy Supply — an e-commerce company headquartered in Minneapolis which sells furniture directly from Chinese manufacturers  to customers across North America.  “Throughout my experiences, I realized just how many middlemen are between the original manufacturer and the end customer,” he says. “Our company basically defies that traditional supply-chain using an e-commerce model.”

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With 15 years of collective input and two years of development behind it, Minneapolis-based Argos Risk has officially launched.

At the core, Argos Risk exists to provide businesses of all sizes an easy and affordable tool to assess and monitor the ongoing financial health and potential business credit risk associated with key strategic relationships — whether that be a business’ customers, suppliers or even competitors.

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“I looked around at all the models and unfortunately we are behind the curve when it comes to early stage investment of time, capital and resources,” says  Cem Erdem, President and CEO of Minneapolis-based Augusoft.

As a Turkish immigrant, Cem started Augusoft 16 years ago to provide Internet strategy consulting at a time when the Internet was still nascent at best. Over the years, Augusoft has become a “highly profitable” software development firm specializing in a learning management system called Lumens.

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