Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

4S Labs Crowdsources the Wallet

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I recently sat down with Sean Stephens of 4S Labs to talk about their Wallet-Case product. They’re not only using Indiegogo to crowd-fund the project, but they’re using social media to choose a design, help with marketing and more.

After covering the product and it’s current multiple designs, Sean talks about running a business that relies on the crowd, before a product is even made, and the future of crowdsourcing.

httpvh://youtu.be/XaqBmqCTFyo

Take part in the 4S project through Twitter, Facebook and, of course Indiegogo to give a little something…you know…for the effort.

MobCon and Mobile Twin Cities to Dole Out $25,000 Prize for Mobile App

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MobCon, the latest addition to the Twin Cities mobile conference calendar on November 13th and 14th, is teaming with Mobile Twin Cites and Lazard Middle Market  to hand out a hefty prize to a Minnesota mobile app developer.

Dubbed MobDemo, Minnesota developers are invited to submit their mobile applications to be ultimately judged bu the attendees of the MobCon attendees. A cash prize of $5,000 plus a $20,000 credit towards mobile development will be awarded to the developers of the mobile application deemed most “technical, innovative and profitable”.

According to James Williams of MobCon, “We’re proud of Minnesota’s emerging mobile enterprise businesses. We want to take time to show them off and reward one for its outstanding efforts.” Mobile Twin Cities Founder, Justin Grammens said, “Some of our past Mobile 3D demo events really brought forward some exciting mobile developments. Joining with MobCon to showcase these apps and companies as well as awarding such a generous cash prize is a real thrill.”

If you’re a developer that thinks you’ve got the goods to score the loot, apply now to present a mobile application demonstration at MobCon 2012. A committee of judges will select finalists to showcase their applications and MobCon attendees will vote to choose a winner. Deadline for entries is October 15th, 2012.

2011 Tekne Award Finalists Announced

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At a swanky little affair at the offices of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA) announced the finalists for the 2011 Tekne Awards. In their 12th year the Teknes “honor companies, innovations and individuals that positively impact Minnesota’s technology-based economy.” While many of Minnesota’s largest tech companies are represented, there is a healthy dose of young companies who get to bask in the warmth of this MHTA honor.

Winners will be chosen at an equally swanky ceremony on November 3rd at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Join the crowd as they choose from the following finalists:

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AWARD

  • CyberOptics Corporation (Golden Valley)
  • IKONICS Corporation (Duluth)
  • Nova-Tech Engineering (Willmar)

…  [Read More…]

More Fuel for NGIN

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TST Media, the creators of the NGIN software platform has scored a round of financing led by El Dorado Ventures. When the ink dried on the agreement last week TST had secured $3.5 million to “grow existing business partnerships, drive software innovations and expand their talent base.”

TST Media CEO and co-founder, Justin Kaufenberg noted the fundraising as “transformational”. He notes that “To a degree, prior growth has been consciously checked in favor of reinvesting in our technology core…that patience and focus has set the stage for us to efficiently deploy these proceeds and exponentially enhance a proven platform and business strategy” In plain speak…TST has got plenty of fuel to power growth to the next level.

That point is further driven home as Kaufenberg commented on El Dorado Ventures. “As a venture partner, El Dorado brings an impressive track record of successfully aiding and nurturing the rapid growth of innovative technology companies.” With TST boasting 100% growth over the past three years and some 200 clients in 50 states and six different countries, Jeff Hinck of El Dorado was happy to note, “In TST Media, we found a company with a best-in-class technology platform. Unlike other players in the space, their NGIN platform has been architected for extendibility and growth.”

Also providing fuel for the local job market, TST Media will be adding more than 20 new positions this year including Software Engineers, UI/UX Designers, Development Operations, Project Managers, Technical Support and Sales.

Local start-up growth, more jobs, a growing platform. Light this candle!

Opening Night at the Minneapolis Grain Idea Exchange

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The floor of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange was open for business Saturday night as Project Skyway and CoCo hosted an open house for the new co-working space. What was once a space bustling with grain traders has been transformed into four distinct spaces including drop-in working, campsite (small company) working, meeting rooms and event space.  While it remains to be seen if the cavernous area will yield to areas of more intimate collaboration CoCo founders Don Ball and Kyle Coolbroth have designed a very exciting space that they hope will mirror their success at their St. Paul location.

They appear to be well on their way as tech incubator Project Skyway and many small start-ups and individual have already set up shop in the shadow of the  “big board”. Project Skyway’s, Cem Erdem noted that their first class of companies will begin working in the space starting today.

See more from Cem as well as Don and Kyle in the short video below.

Congratulations to all on the launch of another resource to further innovation at all levels. We’re looking forward to the day when the hackers figure out how to turn the big board into a ginat tweet wall. Well…maybe.

Code 42 Gets a Dose of Awesome

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During our podcast from Minnebar with Code 42‘s CEO Matthew Dornquast a few weeks back we talked at length about the coming together of Code 42 and Recursive Awesome. Well it’s official.

While the press release indicates both an acquisition and a merger, Recursive Awesome co-founder, Justin Grammens (and, in the interest of full disclosure, partner with yours truly on projects including Mobile March) addressed the deal simply, “This isn’t about one company acquiring the assets and client list of another company. It’s about two very talented teams, coming together to build awesome products.” Code 42’s Dornquast echoed that sentiment by saying, “It became obvious we had familial business DNA – products, customers, values – all nearly identical.”

In conversations with Grammens, who along with RA Co-founder Sam , the goal was always to develop products. He noted “You can spend years working to get your own products off of the ground, or you can partner with a successful product company”.

According to the company, “The entire Recursive Awesome team will join Code 42 Software in their newly expanded headquarters at 1 Main St in Northeast Minneapolis.”

The goals of two companies met, jobs all around, and an exciting future ahead for all. In a word…Awesome!

TST Media Takes Top Honors at Web Challenge

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After 24 hours of meeting, planning coding, creating, and general all around geeky fun, TST Media was selected as the winner of the Nerdery’s annual Overnight Website Challenge. Built on their NGIN platform, currently finding great success with organizations big and small, the Bloomington United for Youth (BUY) site is already live.

We’re also happy to report that our very own Tim Elliott and his band of WordPress fanatics on the Full Court WordPress team brought in a site that made it to the final four. The site for Project 515 should be live later this week.

The judges for the event, represented by their obvious well-rested appearance in a see of sleepy, were Christine Durand, communication director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Christian Erickson, principal, Zeus Jones, Dan Grigsby, founder, Drivetrain, and Dana Nelson, executive director, GiveMN.org

As noted by the Nerdery, “No team lost anything but sleep while 18 nonprofit organizations won free websites that will better carry their mission forward.” We’re sure that none of the teams in the multiple rooms that house the now ginormous Challenge, would disagree.

MHTA Welcomes New President and CEO

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The Dorsey Whitney law firm hosted a meet and greet to welcome incoming Minnesota High Tech Association President and CEO Margaret Anderson Kelliher. If attendees were looking for specifics on how her leadership will impact the organization in the future, they were disappointed…and probably expecting too much.  This was clearly more of a get acquainted gathering.

While chatting in the receiving line she told me that, like many stepping into a new role, the first order of business was strategic planning for the organization, something that hadn’t been seriously undertaken in quite some time.

Noting the inclusion of innovation and building for the future in President Obama’s State of the Union address, Ms Kelliher talked briefly about the MHTA’s dedication to creating high tech jobs and the association’s STEM Education Initiatives.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb8tLk_94tk

Summit Showcases Senator’s Innovation Agenda

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Senator Amy Klobuchar was in Minneapolis for what was billed as an Innovation Summit at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday. According to the Senator’s office, the summit was an opportunity to share information about how the public and private sectors can team up to strengthen the economy by revitalizing American innovation and promoting products abroad.

Senator Klobuchar also used the occasion to outline what was termed as a comprehensive package of legislation she will introduce to strengthen America’s ability to innovate and compete for long-term economic growth and job creation. (As of this writing, no specifics of that package have been provided by the Senator’s office.)

In the short term, Klobuchar said, “We need to deliver a series of targeted tax breaks and regulatory reforms designed to galvanize the private sector and unleash a fresh wave of invention, entrepreneurship, and exports.”

In the long term, she added, “We need to help secure our standing in the global economy, lay the groundwork for future innovation by improving science, technology, engineering, and math education; cut red tape; and increase the ability of our businesses to attract and retain the world’s brightest scientists, engineers, and researchers.”

We look forward to hearing more specifics from the Senator and applaud her efforts to re-energize innovation nationally and can think of no better place than Minnesota from which to start.

Minnedemo Screams Diverse Developer Community

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The folks at Minne* put on another solid showcase of Minnesota innovation at the latest Minnedemo on Thursday night. Ben Edwards, Luke Francl and the latest addition to the team, Adrienne Peirce, kicked off the event with the promise of  “a Minnedemo in the spring and another couple Minnedemos” this year. There was even talk of moving beyond the friendly confines of the Twin Cities and staging an event in St. Cloud. For my part, I would have loved to hear more about the goals of both Minnedemo and Minne*. While I and many familiar faces in the room know what they are, I hate to see anyone miss an opportunity to really showcase the noble efforts of the organization.

As for the presenters and demos at the event, the evening highlighted applications, services, and hardware that catered to a wide range of interests. From gamers to writers, security to slap shots the evening moved along at a brisk pace leaving plenty of time for socializing and networking out side the presentation space at the St. Thomas’ Schultz Hall.

Some of the standouts included…

Inveni-I’ve followed the development of Aaron Weber’s discovery and recommendation engine for quite some time and it didn’t fail to impress. Entertainment (Movies, TV) is the sweet spot for Inveni right now and offers the ability to share your highly personalized Inveni picks with your network. Now if Aaron could only get Netflix to secure a better class of streaming selections…

Zipnosis-With the promise of a diagnosis in minutes for just $25, Zipnosis was perhaps the most polished demo of the evening. We’ve showcased Zipnosis and are big fans. I also found the theme of the demo, providing low-cost healthcare, interesting. Zipnosis clearly wants to move past the tech and on to the benefits….  [Read More…]