A total of 51 companies have moved into the semi-final round of the 2011 Minnesota Cup, which is now in its seventh year.
The
list of companies includes two, Naiku and Qualtrx, that were also selected for Project Skyway's inaugural tech accelerator.
The Minnesota Cup is also similar to the national Cleantech Open, which
also announced semifinalists last week-- companies compete for
divisional and grand prize money (a total of $185,000) but also receive
invaluable mentoring and exposure to investors, entrepreneurs, and other
business experts.
Companies fall into six divisions: Clean Technology and Renewable
Energy, BioSciences, High Tech, Social Entrepreneur, General, and
Student.
Matt Hilker, director of the Minnesota Cup, who is in his second full
cycle of the competition, says this is where the value starts for the
semi-finalists--with "the validation and the exposure they get for
their idea, whether it's potential advisors or even customers, that's
huge," says Hilker.
"Just the process itself is good, because they're given deadlines of
when they have to turn in a business plan," says Hiler. "It's
motivation."
Over the next month-and-a-half, each company will be paired with at
least one mentor while they write their business plans. In mid-August,
three finalists will be chosen from each division, with the winners of
each collecting $25,000 and moving on to the final round in September.
The Minnesota Cup's
program background and details page gives a good explanation and a timeline of the competition.
Source: Matt Hilker, Minnesota Cup
Writer: Jeremy Stratton