The best breakthrough business idea in Minnesota this year is a mobile application that allows care providers, family members, and loved ones to interact with one another throughout the day.
Called
PreciouStatus, the app nabbed the top prize at the lively
Minnesota Cup competition, beating out over 100 competitors in the high-tech division, and about 1,000 entrepreneurs total. PreciouStatus founder Julie Gilbert-Newrai started the company about a year and a half after her husband was hospitalized with a severe brain hemorrhage when the couple's child was just eight weeks old.
"I learned firsthand how difficult communication with loved ones can be during times of crisis," she says. "The more I looked at the system at large, it became obvious how broken it was." She mapped out a tool that could provide real-time updates for those in daycare, eldercare, rehabilitation facilities, schools, and other locations.
Using the technology, care providers input updates on activities, medication, mood, and other aspects of care. This allows family members to keep up with what's happening without frequent calls to a facility.
This year's Minnesota Cup competition was closely watched, in part because it offered the highest total prize amounts in the Cup's history. One finalist from each division received $25,000 in seed capital ($10,000 in the student division), and runners-up each received $5,000. PreciouStatus will was awarded an additional $40,000 as grand prize winner.
"The Minnesota Cup is one venue that tells entrepreneurs to keep going while so many tell you that your business isn't going to work," Gilbert-Newrai says.
Source: Julie Gilbert-Newrai, PreciouStatus
Writer: Elizabeth Millard