By guest contributor by Graeme Thickins, MinneAnalytics Board Member
MinneAnalytics recently announced it is organizing a first-time event called the “Healthcare Startup:Enterprise Entanglement Extravaganza” to open Twin Cities Startup Week on Thursday, October 10. It will be held at Optum in Eden Prairie. Startups, enterprise innovators, investors, and the public are encouraged to participate in this community event.
It will feature:
- A Reverse Pitch – featuring the CIO of the Mayo Clinic, Cris Ross, the CIO of Optum/UHG, John Santelli, and more.
- Private Enterprise/Startup One-on-One Meetings – with participation from Boston Scientific, Delta Dental, Mayo Clinic, Medtronic, Optum, United Healthcare, Fairview, North Memorial, and more.
- A Pitch Fest – similar to the Startup Showcases we run at MinneAnalytics events all the time. Startups will be able to speak publicly and field questions from the audience.
- A VC Panel – featuring partners from four or more top healthcare funds.
- Community Partner Exhibitors – lots of partner tables where you can engage!
Startups that would like to pitch or engage privately with enterprises can fill out this form.
Enterprises that would like to reserve a room for curated one-on-one discussions with startup founders, please contact dan@minneanalytics.org.
To attend this event as a spectator, general admission registration at no cost is available here.
“We have a lot of different community stakeholders, and it’s pretty amazing that they all come together for events like this – without hesitation, and with no competitive sense,” said Dan Atkins, MinneAnalytics cofounder and president. “Like local brewers, you see them in each other’s taprooms. We’re like family.”
Atkins noted one question that could be explored at the event is whether the dominance of the medical device industry in our startup community is now becoming more balanced with healthcare. “Look at the Minnesota Cup semifinalists over recent years,” he said. “What might that tell us? It would also be interesting to compare the number of people working in each of these two industry segments here in the Twin Cities, or the entire state.”
The Reverse Pitch panel will be especially valuable for both startups and investors, noted Atkins. “I just talked to someone who remembered another Santelli-Ross dialogue at Optum, who said ‘people are still talking about the last time MinneAnalytics brought these two heavy-hitters together’.”
The VC Panel, too, is sure to be a colorful and enlightening discussion – and diverse as well, with at least two female venture partners participating. The panel will collectively represent a very large amount of funding earmarked for deployment exclusively in healthcare and medtech.
MinneAnalytics wishes to thank its community partners for this event: TechStars, Gener8tor, Medical Alley Association, UEL Labs, Tech.MN, MHTA, Greater MSP, The Mayo Clinic, Optum, UnitedHealthcare, the Minnesota Cup, Healthcare.MN, and of course Beta.MN for helping us put it together.
Date and Time
Thu, October 10, 2019
8:00 AM – 4:00 PM CDT
(Doors open at 8:00 am, programming starts at 9:00 am. More details as the date gets closer!)
Who Should Attend?
- Startups – If you’re a startup founder, then this is a no-brainier. Come meet and engage corporate innovators and investors.
- Enterprise Innovators – Are you an innovator in a large organization? Looking for ideas or inspiration? Considering partnering with a smaller innovative company that is filling the white space of opportunity and set to disrupt the landscape in the future?
- Venture Capitalists & Angel Investors – One word: dealflow. Come do some one-stop shopping as we bring in the latest and greatest healthcare startups from Minnesota and beyond.
- The General Public – Curious? Possibly you have a startup idea that’s been bouncing around in your head? Maybe you enjoy shows like Shark Tank and want to actually see the real thing. Maybe you have a startup in a different vertical. Maybe you simply want to come learn about the robust startup ecosystem that exists right here in the Upper Midwest.
Location
Optum Technology
13625 Technology Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
(This is a secure building so MinneAnalytics will require a government-issued photo ID.)
