Molly Pyle, Center on Rural Innovation (CORI): Episode 2, Execution is King
Ryan and Josef talk about the importance of startup communities and the importance of innovation in rural communities, including St. Cloud, MN. Molly shares her experience working with incubators, builders, and startups with Singularity University and how that led to her position as the Entrepreneur Ecosystem Development Lead at CORI, where she works with communities to […]
How the University of Minnesota is Embracing Startup Culture
The University of Minnesota is embracing startup culture across disciplines and producing results in the number of founders, tech talent, and startups. One of the top universities in the country with enrollment regularly over 50k, a system-wide endowment of nearly $4B, and over $1B spent annually on research and development, it’s incredibly important for the […]
Jumpstart, the Startup School, and Branch Wins a Webby!
Welcome to the May edition of the Great North Labs newsletter. In this time of economic change, entrepreneurial skills, advancing technology, and its new applications will drive the innovations and evolving business models necessary to spurn economic growth and prosperity on the other side of the downturn. Great North Labs recognizes the importance of seeding […]
New Business Preservation Act
On March 19, 2020, a bill proposing the New Business Preservation Act was submitted to the Senate that seeks to drive economic activity, innovation, and job growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn. The New Business Preservation Act will provide equity funding for new businesses, with larger allocations directed to […]
Taking the Founders Pledge, Inhabitr, and gBETA Pitch Night
Happy Thanksgiving, and welcome back to the Great North Labs newsletter! This is the perfect time of year to reflect on what we are thankful for, and for giving back. We are most thankful for our investors, our advisors, and our portfolio companies, of course! They are the reasons we exist, work, and succeed. We […]
7 Places to Spot Us at Startup Week
Twin Cities Startup Week kicks off tonight, and goes until October 16th! This is the biggest startup (event? happening?) anything in Minnesota every year, and TCSW 2019 is bigger than ever, with over 300 events. So what does a venture fund like Great North Labs have to do with it? Are we just wandering around […]
Greater MN at the big show, Neela Mollgaard heads Launch MN, and Misty’s roadtrip.
Summer is coming to an end, but fall is shaping up to be a good time! The ever-growing Twin Cities Startup Week is October 9-16th this year, and the schedule is currently being finalized. There are quality startups around the state that can use the exposure that comes with a slot at the top startup event of the largest startup gathering in the […]
Talking VC, tech kids, and Forge North’s Horizon
July is over! This is the moment where summer fun planning always turns a little earnest, when we try to store up every last bit of Vitamin D and fish protein we can to last the upcoming season-which-shall-not-be-named. There’s still fun to be had, and we took some time out of the sun recently to attend […]
May: Innovation Ecosystems, SingularityU Kickoff, and PrintWithMe
The Innovation Ecosystem At Great North Labs, we work to cultivate the next generation of leading tech companies across the upper Midwest. As a venture fund, this means deploying capital, providing startup intelligence, and utilizing our network to support and grow early-stage tech startups. We also provide low-cost training through our Startup School, in areas that we […]
April: Minnebar Recap, ZenLord Pro, and Supporting Entrepreneurs
Is it spring already? Where is the late-April blizzard? Ah well, there’s always a surprise October snow to look forward to. MinneBar 14 was this past weekend, with 1700+ tech enthusiasts gathering at Best Buy HQ for the best local tech event this side of Twin Cities Startup Week. As they say, a good time was had by all. Our recap will walk you […]