The 13th incarnation of MinneDemo, Minnesota’s longest running and highest profile technology demo event, was held last month in downtown Minneapolis. An estimated crowd of 500+ Minnesota tech enthusiasts gathered at the Jeune Lune to mix, mingle, and witness 7 unique product demo’s.
Thanks to video production partner Ech03, the presentations were captured, archived, and shared:
Presenters were just announced in anticipation of the next MinneDemo — Minnesota’s longest running and highest profile technology demo events series.
An anticipated crowd of 500+ will converge on Aria at The Jeune Lune around 6:00 or so to watch fresh and homegrown technology creators make their pitch while proving their prose.
Judges from the Minnesota Cup statewide business plan competition have recently trimmed a list of 11 semi-finalists down to to three finalists within the ultra competitive High Tech division.
These three startups are now vying for the division crown on August 28th; a $25k cash prize, host of supporting services, visibility, and maybe even some Minnesota style bragging rights are all up for grabs.
From there, the division winner will compete amongst the other five divisions for the overall grand prize on September 6th, which includes an additional $40k non-dilutive cash.
The University of Minnesota Office for Technology Commercialization has successfully completed another licensing deal with the launch of Early Learning Labs, which is introducing myIGDIs.
“Now that we’ve finalized our agreement, we’re excited to continue building on the innovative work that originated at the U of M and immediately start offering services to users,” said Early Learning Labs president Steve Johnson, who “developed an interest in early stage growth companies while a student at the University.”
As the amount of 2011 tax credits ($12m) available through the Minnesota Angel Investor Tax Credit (AITC) program came to a halt last month, DEED was quick to update a final list of which companies had received what for the year.
The program, created in May, 2010, offers qualified angels (and funds) — whether from Minnesota or not — with a 25% refundable tax credit on investments made towards certified local startups.
At the half, roughly 17 tech companies had seen some $5.5m in investment capital through the program, with approximately .75 cents on every dollar going into ‘high tech’ ventures (IT, SaaS, web, mobile, telecom, etc.) at the time.
With this new data made available, many startups have gained under AITC since we last looked:
Minnesota Cup judges have just revealed their ten selections for this years high tech semifinalists, amongst four other divisions.
Upon reviewing the list, there’s no question this division is hyper-competitive as ever! Some ventures are familiar (even returning), while others are totally fresh.
The semifinalists will be matched with mentors and final plans will be submitted on/before 11:59 pm July 22nd; the list is then further trimmed to three finalists chosen on August 16th (notified by the 19th). Ultimately, ten minute live pitches will be given to the review board and one high tech division winner will be crowned on August 30th.
$25k is at stake for the division winner including a variety of supporting services and an unquantifiable amount of credibility + recognition. Division winners also proceed to compete against the five other divisions on September 8th for an additional $25k as part of the grand prize. Congratulations and good luck all!
Project Skyway continues to move the dial for early-stage tech in Minnesota as they announced today the next milestone: 25 ‘contenders’ will be competing next weekend for a final shot at Minnesota’s first tech accelerator.
The bootcamp kicks-off with an invitation only social gathering Friday night at CoCo (St.Paul), followed by back-to-back days of intense networking, learning and vetting. As the semi-finalists are immersing themselves, Project Skyway will be further trimming the group down to (up to) 10 startups chosen to participate in the inaugural summer accelerator experience which begins on August 1st.
“It was challenging to select these final 25 companies as the quality and quantity of applications received greatly exceeded our expectations. The fact that we received applications from all over the country as well as several countries further demonstrates we can attract companies to come to Minnesota. Now it is up to our community to keep them here,” says Project Skyway Founder Cem Erdem.
19 of the bootcamp contenders are from Minnesota, 3 from the Bay Area and 3 from New York. In alphabetical order:
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