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Launch Minnesota elevates and empowers the state's innovation ecosystem by providing access to capital, statewide connectivity, resources and connections that everyone needs to succeed.
The "Launch List" is a curated, quarterly newsletter that provides investors with detailed insight into Minnesota's home-grown startups and news affecting the investor community.
Startups Featured at VeeCon
Launch Minnesota partnered with VeeCon to organize a startup pitch competition at the conference’s massive welcome party on May 19. Organizers created an online voting competition to select the group of startups that would participate, and after more than 25,000 votes, nine were chosen.
At the end of the welcome party, four companies walked away with awards.
Learn more about the competition and get to know the other five startups.
Angel Fest - June 2nd
Join Groove Capital and other community thought leaders on June 2 for a day of interactive panels and curated conversations at Huntington Bank Stadium. Angel Fest is a great opportunity to deepen your investment knowledge, enable you to connect with other angels and explore early-stage investment trends in the Upper Midwest.
Learn more and register today.
MN Venture Event - June 17th
Launch Minnesota is hosting another Minnesota Ventures investor pitch event in partnership with the MN SBIR/STTR Accelerator, the Medical Alley Association and the University of Minnesota. Organizers will select 10-12 companies to participate. To date, the event has helped local companies raise more than $1M in capital.
Want to attend the event as an investor? Use this link to register. The password is investinminnesota.
If you know of a Minnesota-based startup raising early capital, please encourage them to apply by sending their pitch deck to venture@umn.edu by June 5.
One of Launch Minnesota’s goals is to facilitate connections between various sectors of our state’s innovation ecosystem. We recently reached out to members of our 90-person Launch Minnesota Network for updates on companies they are serving.
Here is what we received.
Backhouse Brands
Backhouse Brands is a marketplace for discovering, creating and launching virtual restaurant brands within existing commercial kitchens. Restaurants use their self-serve web portal to set up new online-only brands and incorporate them into their kitchens using a dedicated companion tablet.
- Completed an initial beta version of the virtual brands marketplace and companion tablet platform.
- Secured the largest BBQ chain in the world ($322M revenue) and their three virtual brands as a launch partner.
- Go-live date set for June 2022.
BlueVest Inc.
BlueVest connects individuals and businesses with the information and resources needed for successful financial planning.
- BlueVest is currently connecting individuals and businesses to financial professionals through strategic partnerships with companies like State Farm, Northwestern Mutual and Farmer's Insurance.
- Continuously adding financial resources and expanding operations outside the Midwest.
The Meatery MN
Meatery is an online community for amateur hobbyists curious about where quality food comes from and how to prepare it. The company partners with small businesses to curate personalized meal collections customers can purchase online and have sent to their door.
- Officially launched in April 2022.
- Has four committed partners on the site.
- Created a social media following of nearly 2,000 within three weeks.
NextGem
NextGem is a tool for managing and discovering the most valuable trading cards. Online resale of trading cards is now estimated to be more than $14B.
- Over 4,000 card enthusiasts have signed up on the waitlist with more than $2B in self-reported asset value.
- 77% 30-day retention rate of members that scan a card.
- 46% MoM active user growth rate, 31% MoM increase in members adding to the platform.
SANOS Nutrition
SANOS Nutrition grows yeast as a sustainable protein resource rich in essential amino acids for the animal feed industry.
- Successfully completed prototype development of a first-generation product with founder equity, competitive grant funding and support from the Agriculture Utilization Research Institute.
- Won the MN Cup Agriculture division and was a national finalist in the clean tech open.
- Currently seeking $750K in seed financing with due diligence complete for a significant portion of the round.
MN Cup Semifinalists
Launch Minnesota partnered with MN Cup and our network to create a startup feeder competition in each of our six regions. Winners of these competitions received automatic entry into the semifinalist round of MN Cup.
Congratulations to the following startups!
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Babbl – Southeast Minnesota
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Trimyxs – West Central Minnesota
- USIL—Southwest Minnesota
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Close Bunk—Northeast Minnesota
- Community Voice – Northwest Minnesota
MN Cup also released its complete list of semifinalists this week. Learn more about this year’s competitors.
Legislation Update
The 2022 Legislative Session ended with a lot undone. Members had come to agreements on the Jobs Omnibus bill and the Tax bill, both which contained provisions that investors would find of interest including:
- $7 million for CY22 for the Angel Tax Credit
- Established a New Market Tax Credit: ($1.8m in FY 25)
- $1 million additional for Launch MN in FY23 & FY24-25
Unfortunately, these items were all included in some of the final bills that got caught up in end-of-session negotiations and did not pass.
The Governor remains committed to pushing the legislature to come back and finish the job in a Special Session. It is unclear if the legislature will come to an agreement for a Special Session.
Angel Tax Credit Update
On May 27, 2022, the Angel Tax Credit Program exhausted its available credits for investments in all businesses. As a result, DEED is no longer accepting certification or credit allocation applications.
For 2022, $5 million in credits were available, $2.5 million of which were reserved for minority- and women-owned businesses, as well as businesses located in Greater Minnesota.
Learn more
If you have questions, please contact the Launch MN team:
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