It takes a lot of personal drive, grit, and tenacity to start a business, but it’s always good to have a helping hand. That’s what Minnesota Startup Accelerators are all about.
To make sure anyone who wants to join the Minnesota entrepreneurial system has the resources they need, we’ve paired with Launch Minnesota to compile this Ultimate Guide to Minnesota Startup Accelerators. We think it’s a great starting point for anyone with an entrepreneurial spark.
We also know the Minnesota landscape is ever-changing. That’s why we’ll be regularly updating this Ultimate Guide to Minnesota Startup Accelerators to reflect the current state of the scene as accurately as possible.
If you want your organization to be included, please don’t hesitate to reach out. This guide can’t truly be “ultimate” without you.
Thanks to Launch Minnesota, our wonderful sponsors, and all of the bright minds that make the Minnesota tech and startup community what it is.
— The tech.mn Team
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Launch Minnesota is a statewide collaborative effort to accelerate the growth of startups and amplify Minnesota as a national leader in innovation.
Created with bipartisan support during the 2019 legislative session, Launch Minnesota – spearheaded by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) – works with an advisory board, private sector stakeholders, support organizations, higher education, and innovative startups statewide.
Check out the highlights of the organization’s first 6 months.
FIND OUT MORE: LaunchMinnesota.org #LaunchMN @LaunchMinnesota
Sponsors are denoted by blue underlines and accompanying logos. Interested in becoming a sponsor? Let us know!
Last updated: July 17, 2020
Twin Cities Metro
301 INC is focused on partnering with emerging food brands. They strive to support the passion and vision of the entrepreneurs to create breakthrough innovation to enable positive change for the world and enable a successful business.
Location: 1 General Mills Blvd Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426
Year Founded: 2012
Application Season: Fall
Programming + Benefits Offered: Tried and true technical tools to help you take ingredients, products and packaging to the next level. A world-class supply chain crew with a wealth of resources across all product categories and channels. Relationships from across channels worldwide.
Twin Cities Metro
The BETA Cohort is a FREE, non-dilutive five-month accelerator where founding teams learn, work, and grow together. The experience includes training around topics that ensure your company is being built upon a firm foundation, while preparing you for the next stage of growth.
Location: 1330 Lagoon Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Year Founded: 2014
Alumni: 162
Program Length: 5 Months
Cohort Size: 14
Application Season: Spring, Fall
Total Funds Raised: $358 Million
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Twin Cities Startup Week, BETA Showcase, BETA Bridge, BETA Backers, BETA State of the State
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Southwest
The Center’s primary focus is on student entrepreneurs, but it also serves the larger regional community as an connecting point between university resources and community needs specifically in the entrepreneurship area.
Location: 424 N. Riverfront Drive, Suite 209, Mankato, MN 56001
Year Founded: 2017
Alumni: 26 Big Ideas teams in 3 years plus individual mentoring of 30 student entrepreneurs
Program Length: 8 weeks
Cohort Size: 17-20
Application Season: Initial Programming to draw in teams: fall semester. Applications: December/January. Program start: February through mid-April with the Big Ideas event and prize awards (and follow-up with each team after the event).
Total Funds Raised: $165,000
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Companies in the Big Ideas experience receive:
Events: 1Million Cups Mankato, Social Media Breakfast Mankato, Women Entrepreneurship Week, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Big Ideas Challenge, Entrepreneurship workshops on design thinking, EOS and more
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Twin Cities Metro
CO.STARTERS MN is a 10-week program sponsored by the James J. Hill Center, with additional funding by the Knight Foundation and fiscal sponsorship supplied by Forge North. A combined effort to help build the pipeline of entrepreneurs in Minnesota.
Location: 80 West 4th Street, Saint Paul, MN 55102
Program Length: 10 Weeks
Cohort Size: 10-15
Fee: $500 (with scholarships available)
Programming + Benefits Offered: Entrepreneurs meet together one evening a week for three hours, led by a facilitator. CO.STARTER certified facilitators are experienced business owners from the community who guide participants through the program. Facilitators ask critical questions, draw on the knowledge in the room, and use available resources and connections to point participants in the right direction. Guest speakers are brought each week to enrich the conversation.
Southwest
The Hutchinson Enterprise Center is a 20,000 square foot small business incubator emphasizing high-tech manufacturing. It combines an extremely low-cost environment with lots of business education, coaching and mentoring to help you maximize the potential of your company. Subject to EDA Board approval, successful graduates of the program can purchase an industrial park lot for $1 to build their own facility.
Location: 1164 Benjamin Avenue SE, Hutchinson, MN 55350
Program Length: Typically three years
Year Founded: 2016
Application Season: Rolling
Total Funds Raised: $2.4 million
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Twin Cities Metro
The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a global, peer-to-peer network of more than 14,000+ influential business owners with 196 chapters in 62 countries. Founded in 1987, EO is the catalyst that enables leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow, leading to greater success in business and beyond.
Location: 1469 140th Ln NW, Andover, MN 55304
Program Length: Ongoing
Year Founded: 1992
Application Season: Rolling
Cohort Size: Unlimited
Fee: $1,750 per participant (yearly)
Programming + Benefits Offered:
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Twin Cities Metro
FINNOVATION Lab is an inclusive workspace and community inspiring social change, growth, innovation, and experimentation. From educational programs to unique events, FINN Lab empowers social entrepreneurs to make a positive change in the world through the power of business.
Location: 817 5th Ave S. 4th Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Year Founded: 2018
Alumni: 5
Program Length: Varies
Cohort Size: Varies
Application Season: Spring
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: SEED SPOT Launch Camp, Showcases
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Twin Cities Metro
This program provides deserving entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities – such as women, minorities, immigrants, veterans, LGBTQ, and those with disabilities – access to Fueled Collective. The program is made possible by Google for Startups.
Location: 400 S 4th St #401, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Program Length: 6 months
Cohort Size: 5
Programming +Benefits:
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West Central
gBETA is a program of nationally ranked startup accelerator gener8tor. gBETA is a free, seven-week accelerator for early-stage companies with local roots. Each program is capped at five teams, and requires no fees and no equity.
Location: 505 West St. Germain Street, Saint Cloud, MN 56301
Alumni: 5
Program Length: 7 Weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Application Season: Spring & Fall
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Exclusive Pitch Night reception for gBETA cohort
Twin Cities Metro
gBETA Medtech is a program of University Enterprise Laboratories and gener8tor. This program works exclusively with startups focused on healthcare and is sponsored by Boston Scientific and DRIVe Accelerator Network with additional support from Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota and Medical Alley Association.
Location: 1330 Lagoon Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408
Year Founded: 2018
Alumni: 23
Program Length: 7 weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Application Season: Fall
Programming + Benefits Offered:Benefits Offered:
Events: Midwest COVID-19 Innovation Showcase, Pitch Nights
Twin Cities Metro
gBETA St. Thomas takes place on the University of St. Thomas campus in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is exclusively available to students and alumni of the University of St. Thomas. Companies of any stage, industry, or business model can apply to participate.
Location: Schulze Hall Suite 435, 46 S 11th St #4, Minneapolis MN 55403
Year Founded: 2019
Alumni: 6
Program Length: 7 Weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Application Season: Rolling, with interviews in June
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Pitch Nights
Twin Cities Metro
gener8tor is a nationally ranked accelerator that invests in high-growth startups. For each cohort, we invest $100K in each of five startups who receive a concierge experience during our 12-week accelerator program.
Location: 1330 Lagoon Avenue Suite 400 Minneapolis, MN 55408
Alumni: 95
Program Length: 12 Weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Total Funds Raised: $300M+
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: OnRamp Conference Series, Premier Night
Twin Cities Metro
Lunar Startups is a new model for startup acceleration specializing in growth, connection, and innovation for entrepreneurs who identify as womxn, Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), and LGBTQ+. We are based in the Osborn370 innovation hub in downtown St. Paul, MN.
Location: 370 Wabasha St N, Suite 500 St. Paul, MN 55102
Alumni: 162
Program Length: 1 Year
Cohort Size: 32
Application Season: November – December
Total Funds Raised: $1.3 Million
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Fix It Fridays, Undemo Day
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Twin Cities Metro
MacStartups is a fully-immersive, 10-week intensive program designed to accelerate the development of Macalester student entrepreneurial ideas. Participants will develop the courage to take risks, learn methodologies and equip themselves with a toolkit.
Location: 1600 Grand Ave, St Paul, MN 55105
Year Founded: 2015
Cohort Size: 8
Program Length: 10 Weeks
Application Season: Spring semester
Programming + Benefits Offered: In MacStartups, students work through a 10-week curriculum that helps them develop and explore the skills and mindset of entrepreneurship. The students’ experience of entrepreneurship is bolstered by the shared stories and expertise of entrepreneurs working across fields.
Funding, mentorship, skill building, work space, access to a cohort community, connections to the Twin Cities startup ecosystem, the alumni network and Macalester campus partners
Events: Networking Showcase, Summer Idea Showcase
Twin Cities Metro
MN Cup is an annual competition open to all Minnesotans with an innovative idea or new business concept. The only two criteria for entry is that the business needs to be based in Minnesota and earning less than $1 Million in revenue annually. Each spring, hundreds of entrepreneurs apply to one of our nine divisions, and ten per division are selected to move forward to the semifinal round (90 total) to take advantage of free education, mentorship, and compete for prize money. MN Cup is based at the Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the Carlson School of Management but is run like a not-for-profit.
MN Cup is powered by the financial contributions of over 50 MN-based corporations and grant-making organizations, and the time and talents of hundreds of skilled volunteers who contribute their expertise as judges and mentors. The generosity of this community allows MN Cup to offer more than $500,000 in seed capital to competition winners taking no equity in exchange. We’re here to support Minnesota’s entrepreneurs and innovators as they change their industries, change our state and change the world.
Location: 2-212 Carlson School of Management, 321 19th Ave. S
Year Founded: 2005
Alumni: 980
Program Length: June – September Annually (Part-Time)
Cohort Size: 90
Application Season: March – April
Total Funds Raised: MN Cup alumni have raised over $500 Million in capital
Programming + Benefits Offered: Workshops and education series range from pitch coaching, how to create financial projections, creating an equitable and inclusive company culture, social media and marketing basics, and more. Roughly 15 different sessions are offered each season, with input taken from competitors about what they’re most interested in learning.
MN Cup Semifinalists receive access to education and programming designed to strengthen their business concepts and accelerate their growth, mentorship from exceptional business leaders and subject matter experts, and the chance to win a share of $500,000 in seed capital. Completely free to compete and no equity taken in exchange for prize money.
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Twin Cities Metro
The federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, also known as America’s Seed Fund help startups and small businesses transform ideas into marketable products and services. The SBIR/STTR Programs are one of the largest sources of early-stage capital for technology commercialization in the United States.
The Minnesota SBIR/STTR Assistance Office (MNSBIR) is the Governor’s resource to assist startups and existing firms in broad and diverse technology sectors to apply for SBIR/STTR funding. In 2019, MNSBIR launched the SBIR/STTR Accelerator to assist qualified science and technology-based startups and existing firms through education and coaching. The Accelerator offers up to 10 cohorts each year focused on three federal agencies: the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense to apply and secure funding.
Location: 400 S 4TH ST Suite 416, Minneapolis, MN 55415
Year Founded: 2014
Alumni: 50
Program Length: Varies
Cohort Size: 15-30
Application Season: Varies
Total Funds Raised: $775,000 (Federal, DEED, Meda, MHTA and U of M funding sources)
Programming + Benefits Offered: A blended educational program that includes individualized and customized assistance. The programming includes many of the aspects of a quality proposal and understanding the federal research and development process.
The benefits of the Accelerator is to provide expert instruction and assistance to help first-time proposers to win funding. The SBIR/STTR programs are highly competitive with many elements required to prepare and submit a quality research project for consideration. The Accelerator helps firms navigate through the process from ideation to proposal submission, and ultimately to an award.
The Accelerator is led by Pat Dillon with support from other experts in intellectual property, technology transfer, Lean Startup and federal cost accounting.
Twin Cities Metro
NEON Food is the only industry-specific incubator designed specifically for food businesses in Minnesota. You’ll work one-on-one with a business advisor who will help you navigate the City’s food regulations and grow your food business intentionally by slowly scaling up.
Location: 1007 W Broadway Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55411
Year Founded: 2006
Programming + Benefits Offered:
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Twin Cities Metro
Location: WeWork Uptown, 1330 Lagoon Avenue Suite 400 Minneapolis, MN 55408
Program Length: 12 weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: The creation of the OnRamp Education & Workforce Innovation Accelerator builds off the success of gener8tor’s “OnRamp” model designed to efficiently connect startups, corporations and capital. Started in 2020, the OnRamp Education & Workforce Innovation Conference brings together the education industry’s leading corporations, investors and startups. The conference highlights innovations disrupting the education industry, the leaders making such innovations possible and how new technologies and business models will reinvent the industry.
Twin Cities Metro
Location: Two offices:
WeWork 1330 Lagoon Ave Suite 400 Minneapolis, MN 55408
Osborn370 370 Wabasha St N Suite 610 St. Paul, MN 55102
Program Length: 12 weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Benefits offered to accepted companies are:
Events: The OnRamp Insurance Accelerator builds on the success of the annual OnRamp Insurance Conference. Started by gener8tor in 2015, the OnRamp Insurance Conference brings together the insurance industry’s leading corporations, investors and startups. The conference highlights innovations disrupting the insurance industry, the leaders making such innovations possible and how new technologies and business models will reinvent the industry.
Southeast
Red Wing Ignite advances students, entrepreneurs and businesses by bringing together the talent and resources needed to create an innovative ecosystem. In addition, we manage a co-working space and makerspace. Red Wing Ignite leverages tehe strength of convening and leading stakeholders across public and private sectors in SE MN.
Location: 419 Bush St. Red Wing, MN 55066
Year Founded: 2013
Cohort Size: 15-20
Program Length: 8 Sessions
Application Season: Varies (3x per year)
Total Funds Raised: 1.5 million +
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Monthly Red Talks, Monthly E1 Tech Talks, Annual E1 Ignite Cup, ILT Studios Lean Startup Courses, E1 networking and educational opportunities.
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Twin Cities Metro
The Technology Village Business Accelerator program supports the growth of emerging technology and professional service businesses with a technology focus, within an entrepreneurial environment that encourages collaboration, fosters job creation and provides connections to local & regional resources.
Location: 4646 Dakota St SE Prior Lake, MN 55372
Year Founded: 2011
Program Length: 3 years
Cohort Size: 8
Application Season: Rolling
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Annual FAST-TRACK Business Challenge, Participant breakfasts and educational sessions.
Twin Cities Metro
With partners Cargill and Ecolab, this program focuses on the future of food and agriculture. This mentorship-driven accelerator works with great founders who are solving problems all across the food value chain: from digital solutions on the farm, to supply chain, manufacturing, restaurant tech and even food waste mitigation.
Location: 370 Wabasha St N floor 8, St. Paul, MN 55102
Year Founded: 2018
Program Length: 13 weeks
Programming + Benefits Offered:
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The Minneapolis-based mentorship-driven accelerator is focused on digital health innovation, supported by executive leaders and subject matter experts from UnitedHealthcare along with the Techstars worldwide network.
Location: 729 N Washington Ave Minneapolis, MN 55401
Year Founded: 2019
Program Length: 3 Months
Cohort Size: 10
Application Season: February – May
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Demo Days
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Twin Cities Metro
TinySeed is a year-long, remote accelerator designed for early-stage SaaS founders. The program offers funding as well as guidance, advice, and mentorship from other founders.
Location: 5123 W 98th St., Suite 1084, Minneapolis, MN 55437
Year Founded: 2018
Alumni: 23
Program Length: 1 year
Cohort Size: 10-15
Application Season: Fall
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: MicroConf
Twin Cities Metro
Twin Ignition supports a thriving tech startup community in the Twin Cities. The organization aims to to meet the unique needs of each startup it works with.
Location: 1317 Marshall St NE, Minneapolis MN 55413
Year Founded: 2019
Alumni: 7
Program Length: 1-3 years
Cohort Size: Unlimited
Application Season: Rolling
Programming + Benefits Offered: Mentorship, investment, networking and space at the Twin Ignition Startup Garage.
Twin Cities Metro
University Enterprise Labs (UEL) is an independent incubator for early-stage companies in life sciences, including biotech, healthcare, food/agriculture, and medical devices. UEL currently hosts 60 early-stage and growth companies, and offers wet labs, office, and conference space to startups.
Location: 1000 Westgate Dr., Saint Paul, MN 55114
Year Founded: 2005
Alumni: >40
Program Length: 7 weeks
Cohort Size: 5
Application Season: Fall and Spring (gBETA Medtech), Rolling applications (early-stage to growth companies)
Total Funds Raised: >$5M to create incubator
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Partner and showcase events, Lunch and Learn events, BARDA (Biomedical Research and Development Authority) partner events.
Twin Cities Metro
The Venture Center, part of University of Minnesota Technology Commercialization (TechComm), has helped spin out 167 companies since 2006, including 19 last year. Three-fourths of these companies have been in Minnesota.
Location: 200 Oak St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455
Year Founded: 2006
Alumni: 167 companies have been launched, with a survival rate of 75%
Program Length: One year
Cohort Size: 12 startups (Note: Discovery Launchpad does not operate as a “cohort” model, but assists startups one-on-one. 12 startups participated this year.)
Application Season: Rolling
Total Funds Raised: More than $1.16 billion from venture capital, acquisitions, and public offerings
Programming + Benefits Offered: The Venture Center runs Discovery Launchpad, a startup incubator and coaching program begun in 2019 that has helped more than 20 startups to date (only for startups based on University of Minnesota intellectual property).
Twin Cities Metro
WeWork Labs is The We Company’s global platform for early-stage startups and forward-thinking enterprise companies.
Location: 1330 Lagoon Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Year Founded: 2018
Alumni: 980
Program Length: No end date
Cohort Size: 50
Application Season: Always open
Programming + Benefits Offered:
Events: Pitch nights, networking nights, and weekly brainstorm sessions.
Information for this guide was sourced from both direct sources and/or website information. Some content has been lightly edited for clarity or space.