TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Richfield-based Kidblog is raising a $400k first round of capital, according to a disclosure document recently filed with the SEC.

“Kidblog.org is designed for elementary and middle school teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog.  Kidblog’s simple, yet powerful tools allow students to publish posts and participate in discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs.”

Launched in January 2010 by Matt Hardy and partner Dan Flies, the company has yet to generate revenue, but has experienced exponential adoption over the years, growing the userbase to 1.5m. They must be eager to turn this passion into a real business right about now.

By Nick Nelson

Election season is upon us. Campaigns will be ramping-up in the coming months with several important seats up for grabs in November. That means a great deal of information (and misinformation) will be flying around.

The sheer volume of rhetoric coming from all angles can make it difficult for a person – particularly a young person who is new to the political climate – to cut through the bureaucracy and align himself or herself with a candidate that holds matching viewpoints and ideologies.

That’s why Political Harmony, a startup being developed under the current cycle at Project Skyway, was created. Co founders Kyle Welliver and Tyler Kent consider their website the “Match.com for politicians.”

Read More…

By Dan Carr, Star Tribune

“Did you know that 46 percent of adult Americans now have a smartphone, according to Pew Research?  And, Flurry Mobile Analytics estimates that 45 percent of our media consumption time is spent interacting with our phones and the Web.

Business has also moved to the Web in a big way. Our enterprises sell differently, communicate expansively and track information robustly. Storage, security and software engineering — long Minnesota strengths — are being leveraged in exciting and creative new businesses, as well as large businesses.”

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