On July 4th, 239 years ago, a group of entrepreneurs, visionaries, and leaders came together to free themselves from a politically oppressive system that they found socially and economically limiting. The country they founded promised life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness- free from tyranny and organized in a way “most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness”.
The American Dream is one of a meritocracy- work hard and be rewarded. This remains a dream for many who are hobbled by systemic barriers. Their success isn’t solely dependent on their talents and hard work, but on factors outside of their control like where they are born, who their parents are, and what color their skin is.
The murder of George Floyd has exposed some of these barriers in a horrifying way. Not all people are safe and happy. Many are being denied the pursuit of happiness, liberty, and their very lives. For these citizens, our country isn’t a meritocracy. For these citizens, our country isn’t living up to its founding principles.

As entrepreneurs and investors, we characterize the issues in terms we can understand and work with. We see the root problem as economic deprivation. Existing inequalities are the symptoms of this problem, and the solution is to give everyone a fair chance to succeed. That’s why our team works to provide equitable opportunities for success through charitable giving, training, and mentorship. We help entrepreneurs to have a chance at success, and we put in the effort to make it happen.
As a venture fund we have only one KPI: returns. Our investing is driven by profits for shareholders. We make investments almost exclusively off referrals- from our advisors, investors, other funds and ecosystem partners. While we believe our efforts are equitable, we don’t currently measure demographics in our deal pipeline. In the words of Peter Drucker, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure”.
So moving forward, as we log opportunities for observation and investment consideration, we will be tracking demographic profiles of the founding teams. We will also be tracking demographic profiles in our startup school initiative. These measurements will allow us to ensure that we are seeing opportunities from a representative sample of our region’s population. The data will guide the creation of specific action plans to improve the equity of our investment pipeline wherever necessary, so that we can be held accountable to providing fair access to our capital pipeline, our mentorship, and training initiatives.
We aren’t focused on the short-term. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Here in the upper Midwest, we are contributing to a cycle of growth by building capacity in the innovation ecosystem. The cycle includes not only harvesting profits, but cultivating startups. And by making this cycle accessible, by sharing the plans and the keys to growth engines with underserved communities, we can catalyze the generational change necessary to truly impact disadvantaged people in the region for the next 239 years.
Events
Summer is in full swing. After the 4th, check out these events.
- July 8th is the deadline to apply for MinneDemo 34, in Minneapolis, MN. Minnestar’s regular demo time for Twin Cities makers will be held in early August, on a day TBD.
- July 9th is the OnRamp Agriculture Conference. The OnRamp Agriculture Conference brings together the agriculture and food industries’ leading corporations, investors and startups. The conference highlights innovations disrupting agriculture and the future of food, the leaders making such innovations possible and how new technologies and business models will reinvent the industry. You can connect with Ryan Weber at the event.
- Aug. 12th is the virtual OnRamp Healthcare Conference. “The conference highlights innovations disrupting health care and the future of medicine, the health care leaders making such innovations possible and how new technologies and business models will reinvent the industry.”
- Aug. 13-20th is ForwardFest in Madison, WI. “Join fellow entrepreneurs, nerds, geeks, hackers, foodies, and creatives from the Midwest in an 8-day celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Portfolio News
Misty Robotics has developed a new skill for the robot, “Misty”, that turns it into a Temperature Screening Assistant. The skill turns Misty into an autonomous, customizable, user-friendly solution for touchless COVID-19 screening.
Advisor News
Great North Labs has added a Venture Analyst to the team! Emily Shirley is a graduate of Miami University’s Finance and Entrepreneurship program. While at Miami University, Emily co-founded the Social Impact Fund, first undergraduate-led social impact fund in the country. Her recent experience includes as a Strategic Account intern at Cintrifuse.
Job Board
Dispatch is hiring Product Manager, Product Owner, and Quality Assurance Engineer in Bloomington, MN. Territory Sales Manager positions are open in Atlanta, Kansas City, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, St. Louis, and Minneapolis.
FactoryFix is hiring a Team Lead – Full Stack Developer, Full Stack Developer, and Infrastructure Developer- DevOps in Madison, WI; a Recruiter, and Business Development Rep in Chicago, IL.
PrintWithMe is hiring a Regional Sales Director on the East Coast; a Software Engineer, Summer Strategy Intern (MBA), Summer Strategy Intern (undergraduate), AR/AP Specialist, Account Manager, and Recruiter for Remote work.
Parallax is hiring for Growth/Customer Acquisition in Minneapolis, MN.
Inhabitr is hiring a Chief Growth Officer/Head of B2C Growth and a Sales and Customer Experience Associate in Chicago, IL.
Clinician Nexus is hiring a Product Manager in Minneapolis or Remote.
NoiseAware is hiring a COO, VP of Global Sales & Account Management, Product Marketing Manager, UI/UX Designer, Account Manager, and Customer Advocate in Dallas, TX.

June Newsletter

Demystifying Startup HR

Head of Finance & Fund Administration- Venture Capital Firm (Remote)

Demystifying Startup HR

3 Portfolio Companies Make Inc. 5000 + Quicklly & Instacart Expand

3 Portfolio Companies Ranked on The Inc. 5000 List

iraLogix closes $22M + Branch expands with Uber

iraLogix closes $22M Series C

Flywheel lands Gates Foundation grant

Venture Capital Analyst

Orazio Buzza, Founder and CEO of Fooda – on Episode 13, “Execution is King”

$40M Fund II Raised!

Eric Martell, Founder of Pear Commerce: Episode 13, Execution is King

Great North Ventures Raises $40 Million Fund II

Investment Thesis: Fund II Strategy

Investment Theme: Community-Driven Applications

Investment Theme: Digital Transformation Through AI

Investment Theme: Solving Labor Problems

Trends in the Gig Economy + Work in the Metaverse

Portfolio raises $125M + talking fundraising with Branch CEO

Omnia Fishing closes $4M round, joins Great North portfolio!

Atif Siddiqi, Founder/CEO of Branch: Episode 11, Execution is King

Michael Martocci, CEO and Founder of SwagUp: Episode 10, Execution is King

Yardstik new to portfolio, closes $8M Series A

First venture studio startup comes out of stealth!

Insights for founders from a data guru, + FactoryFix raises a Series A!

Una Fox: Episode 9, Execution is King

Start With a Mobile App, Not a Website

2ndKitchen acquired by SoftBank-backed REEF + advice from an early Googler

Joe Sriver, 4giving: Episode 8, Execution is King

2ndKitchen Acquired by REEF

Venture studio startup jobs + advice for founders from founders

Best Advice from the Great North Annual Event: Episode 7, Execution is King

Newsletter: Do you fit our investing themes?

Jonathan Treble, PrintWithMe: Episode 6, Execution is King

Anna Mason, Revolution: Episode 5, Execution is King

Mynul Khan, FieldNation: Episode 4, Execution is King

Nick Moran, New Stack Ventures: Episode 3, Execution is King

Molly Pyle, Center on Rural Innovation (CORI): Episode 2, Execution is King

Justin Kaufenberg, Rally Ventures: Execution is King Episode 1

Newsletter: “Podcast Launched: Execution is King!”

“Execution is King” – the Great North Ventures Podcast

Newsletter: Fund II is open for business!

Unlocking the Potential of Anonymized Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Data

Fund II is open for Business!

Mike Schulte Promoted to Venture Partner

New Name + New Venture Studio

Great North Launches Startup Studio

We Don’t Need No [full-time MBA] Education

How the University of Minnesota is Embracing Startup Culture

Top Stories of 2020, iraLogix, and LaunchMN Calls for Mentors

Building Capacity for Innovation

Seizing Opportunity in a Recession, Allergy Amulet, and Twin Cities Startup Week

Recessionary times, a record-setting IPO, and Minnesota’s Resilient Startups

Minnesota's Resilient Startups

July 4th, Equitable American Dream-ing, and Robots Diagnosing COVID

Jumpstart, the Startup School, and Branch Wins a Webby!

COVID-19 Trends, the Great North response, and our Founders Survey

Giving in the Time of Coronavirus

COVID-19 Resources for Startups, State-by-State

COVID-19, the CARES Act, and startups stepping up

New Business Preservation Act

Digital Future Boardroom, PartySlate, and The Lean Startup School

Great North Labs’s Startup Summit 2020

Great North Labs's Startup Summit 2020

World Economic Forum, NoiseAware, and the Startup School reboot

Great North Labs at the World Economic Forum 2020 in Davos

Top 5 Stories of 2019

Taking the Founders Pledge, Inhabitr, and gBETA Pitch Night

Founders Pledge: Support the Organizations that Support You

BETA Showcase, Greater MN, and Launch MN comes to St. Cloud

7 Places to Spot Us at Startup Week

The Greater MN Meetup, Parallax, and Exponential Medicine

Greater MN at the big show, Neela Mollgaard heads Launch MN, and Misty’s roadtrip.

Talking VC, tech kids, and Forge North’s Horizon

June: Great North Labs’s first fund raised!

May: Innovation Ecosystems, SingularityU Kickoff, and PrintWithMe

April: Minnebar Recap, ZenLord Pro, and Supporting Entrepreneurs

MinneBar 14 Recap

Dispatch and 2ndKitchen claim Tech Madness titles

Minnesota Innovation Collaborative

March: Minnebar, Hockey + Hustlers, and Innovation Workshops

Great North Labs at CES

Dec.-Jan.: Top Posts from 2018, pepr, Glowe, and Misty Robotics

Carried Interest: Top Posts from 2018

Oct.-Nov.: Singularity University, Exponential Tech, and the State of Innovation

July: Pitchly, ForwardFest, and Where to Invest in the Midwest

Digital Transformation Summit, July 25th in Minneapolis

June: Silicon Lakes, FactoryFix, and the Digital Transformation Summit

Putting the “Silicon” in Silicon Lakes

Digital Manufacturing and Logistics

May: Team Genius, IoT, and the Future of Everything

IoT 3.0

Healthcare Innovation

March: Exponential Tech, the “Goldilocks Zone”, and Minnebar 13

February: Team Expansion, Dispatch, and Startup School Events

Great North Labs Newsletter – December 2017

A Letter To My Younger Self

Great North Labs Newsletter

Great North Labs Featured on Tech.mn

Great North Labs Featured in St Cloud Times

Great North Labs – Featured on BizJournals.com
