TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

By Katharine Grayson, Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal

“Björn Stansvik got the idea for his first mobile application in 1999, when he was struggling to learn Chinese and wanted to carry language-learning software in his pocket.

The idea didn’t catch on as quickly as he’d hoped. But Stansvik’s early bet on mobile technology has more than paid off in recent years as the tech company he founded, MentorMate, has grown rapidly.

Minneapolis-based MentorMate will soon more than double the size of its headquarters with a move to about 11,000 square feet at 3036 Hennepin Ave.”

Read More…

An interesting startup called MIDART Communications recently closed on $270k of a $750k round, according to an SEC disclosure.

Based in the Twin Cities and founded in 2009, MIDART is an acronym for Mobile, Internet, Digital, Authentication, Retransmission and Timing.

“The company’s unique multi platform approach for distribution includes not only television but also station websites and viewer’s mobile devices,” the website vaguely describes. Low on specifics and high on promises — the venture isn’t shy about its ambitions:

“MIDART was formed to acquire and operate television stations that are under-valued or over-leveraged and create duopolies and triopolies when possible. The company targets stations in medium to large designated market areas in the United States, ultimately reaching 10% of the U.S. market, creating economies of scale.”

What makes this startup even more intriguing is the cast of names, which includes the likes of: meteorologist and serial weather tech entrepreneur Paul Douglas, MentorMate Founder and CEO Bjorn Stansvik and Digital River vet Todd Frostad.

An inquiry into the mechanics of MIDART has been sent and this post will be updated accordingly…

Minneapolis-based MentorMate commenced the development of a mobile e-learning system called iQpakk in 2000, patented the technology in 2001 and launched in 2002 on the Pocket PC, Palm and Symbian platforms. Built around Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning objective classifications, the mobile technology would revolve around three core components: the manager, the generator and the learner.

Recent Swedish immigrant CEO Bjorn Stansvik conceived an initial go-to-market plan in the advanced placement learning space and everything was in place.

Read More…

On Wednesday, September 29th, around 300 developers from Minnesota and beyond will rally at the Sheraton Hotel in Bloomington for the fifth annual Minnesota Developers Conference (MDC).

Described as “the largest independent software and interactive developers conference in the Midwest,” the event is known for its emphasis on Microsoft technologies.  From Silverlight to Smart Phone, a total of twenty unique tracks led by a diverse mix of speakers and a keynote from author and creator of CSLA.NET Rockford Lhotka are planned for this years gathering.

Read More…

By Steve Borsch, Minnov8

“One of the most challenging things to do as a startup, entrepreneur, or any leader looking to manifest a vision or outcome in software, is finding a trusted partner with whom to turn that vision in to reality. MentorMate, a mobile, application & web software development company in Minneapolis, does this sort of work all the time and might be a firm you’ve never heard of before!”

Read More…

Bjorn Stansvik is a the Founding CEO of MentorMate, a Minneapolis-based custom application software development company. MentorMate’s beginnings trace back ten years to the creation of a patented mobile software technology called iQpakk, aimed at the learning and education space. In 2004, the company re-invented itself to leverage the resources of a diverse 35 person team (between US & Europe) and evolved into full-service web development/design firm with a broad range of expertise including mobile application development and internet marketing.

Presently, the firm services a variety of customers – from small, venture backed startups, to global organizations in the healthcare, energy and entertainment sector.  In part, the secret to the success of MentorMate has been to embrace a culture of continuous improvement and internal incubation through their “New Ventures” initiative. With this systematic  approach to innovation, the MentorMate team constantly submits, collects and vets business ideas with an intent to develop and deploy those with the greatest potential.  For example, three products sourced through from the program include: SpyderMate, MigraneMate and LocationMate – a mobile tracking application for enterprise logistics or consumers via Facebook integration.

Mr. Stansvik holds a M.Sc. in Business Administration from the Gothenburg School of Economics and has completed a master’s thesis in Civil Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.  He is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), and in 2008, was elected to the board of the Minneapolis City of Lakes Rotary.  He often speaks at the University of Minnesota and other institutions on topics such as entrepreneurship, software development and globalization.

Listen to a brief yet fascinating story of an entrepreneur who planted his flag in Minnesota after immigrating to America with little more than a suitcase and a relentless desire to realize his dreams.