September: Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff Recap, Twin Cities Startup Week
Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff “It doesn’t take a lot of capital with early-stage tech companies to make a big impact.” – Ryan Weber The Great North Labs Startup Ecosystem Kickoff brought together successful entrepreneurs and innovators to learn about the current state of the tech and investment ecosystem and network with like-minded professionals. 25 speakers, 6 portfolio […]
Where to Invest in the Midwest: Venture Across Asset Classes
More than 8,000 venture-backed companies received a combined $85 billion in funding in 2017, representing the highest annual total since 2000.[i] As stocks, real estate investments, and venture capital reach record highs, what are investors thinking about where to invest? The answer depends on the type of investor: Large funds such as university endowments, pension […]
Putting the “Silicon” in Silicon Lakes
By Pradip Madan, Ryan Weber, and Rob Weber In the US, several tech ecosystems have become centers of tech innovation in addition to the much-vaunted Silicon Valley. Silicon Alley is in NYC; Austin is known as Silicon Hills; Silicon Mountain includes Boulder, Colorado Springs, Denver and Fort Collins; Silicon Forest is in the […]
Digital Manufacturing and Logistics
Can the Upper Midwest drive digital innovation in manufacturing and logistics? Legacy Manufacturing Hubs Manufacturing and farming ecosystems in the US and around the world have developed around a combination of the following ingredients: raw materials (minerals, crops), energy (electric, hydro, wind, solar), logistics (bays/ports, rivers, roads), talent/labor pools, and viable operating economics. A combination […]
IoT 3.0
IoT and Analytics – Organizing the Industrial Internet Figure 1: The third revolution: IoT and Analytics. [Image credit: General Electric] The Evolution of IoT – Where we Came From The first generation of IoT systems (IoT 1.0) was built mostly with data collected from IP-based sensors by monitoring applications. Whether standalone or embedded […]
Healthcare Innovation
Healthcare Today Some of the smartest minds work in healthcare, life sciences and biopharma. Yet the healthcare sector struggles to bring innovation into its ecosystem. The pace of innovation adoption has been much greater in other sectors, including in communication (Facebook, Skype), learning (Google, YouTube, Coursera), shopping (Amazon), personal finance (PayPal), and entertainment (Netflix). This […]