A gadget to help doctors diagnose patients across language barriers is one of a dozen outstate Minnesota proposals to make the Minnesota Cup semifinals.
The annual entrepreneur contest has typically been dominated by metro-area inventors, but 12 of the
48 semifinalists announced last week come from Greater Minnesota.
"We had more entries than we've ever had from outstate Minnesota, which is something we've really been trying to develop," says Matt Hilker, director of the Minnesota Cup.
Duluth-based
Geacom, for example, makes a medical communication device called Phrazer, which lets patients point to diagrams in more than 100 languages.
Hilker credits the contest's new partnership with the
Arrowhead Growth Alliance in northeastern Minnesota for helping to boost participation in Greater Minnesota.
Minnesota Cup organizers received around 400 proposals for this year's contest. The 48 semifinalists will spend the next month refining their business plans before the field is reduced to 16.
By the end of summer, there will be one finalist in each of six divisions: cleantech, biosciences, high-tech, general, student, and social entrepreneur.
The social entrepreneur division, which is on a different schedule than the others, announced its finalist last week: Saint Paul's Springboard for the Arts.
Source: Matt Hilker, Minnesota Cup
Writer:
Dan Haugen