Welcome to the 2010 Minnesota Cup!
The Minnesota Cup is an annual, statewide competition that seeks out aspiring entrepreneurs and their breakthrough ideas. We are looking for the next great entrepreneurial success story in our state.
This competition is for all entrepreneurs, whether your breakthrough idea is high tech or no tech, whether you are just putting your ideas into a business plan or if you've been out building your venture.
The 2010 Minnesota Cup semifinalists have been announced!
On June 22nd, the MN Cup held a reception at the JJ Hill Reference Library to honor the semifinalists. In addition to the semifinalists, MN Cup review board members, sponsors, supporters, mentors and others in the Minnesota investor and business communities were in attendance.
The second round of the Minnesota Cup is now underway. Semifinalists are currently busy working on their full 20 page business plans, which are due by midnight on July 23rd. Our division review boards will then meet to determine the top three division finalists who will be announced on August 17th. The division finalists will have an opportunity to present their breakthrough ideas live to their respective division's review board on August 31st.
Congratulations to the 2010 Social Entrepreneur Cup winner, SpringBoard for the Arts!
They are also the winner of the Social division of the Minnesota Cup and will compete against the other division winners, who will be selected later in the summer, for the 2010 Minnesota Cup grand prize.
Innovative ideas for medical devices, biotech solutions, animal health, drug delivery and diagnostics or human / animal health related products.
Innovative ideas involving clean technology and renewable energy.
Innovative products, services and solutions in manufacturing, recreation, education and all othe ideas.
Innovative ideas in high technology including IT, hardware, software, web & communications
Innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems
For students 19 to 25 attending a college or university in Minnesota
Minnesota Cup 2009 Recap
Supplements for the Competitions
And the Grand Prize goes to Alvenda!
After six months of intense competition, one entrant out of a field of many has emerged as the winner of this years Minnesota Cup. Congrats to Alvenda!! For more on Alvenda....
Competition Summary
Starting with a field of more than 1,000 participants in the first round, judges determined up to 10 top entries per division who would become this years semifinalist. From there, each semifinalist wrote a 20 page business plan and judges determined the top 3 per division who would serve as the division finalist. The competition was intense for the top spot in each division with the quality of presentations by the finalist on September 1st being excellent. Congrats to all Division Winners and great job in this years competition.
Each year, Twin Cities Business provides enhanced coverage of the Minnesota Cup through an 8 page supplement. Following you can find the supplements for the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009 competitions!
Success Stories
As the Minnesota Cup program grows and evolves, one of the most important themes is that the program works. Many past finalist and semi-finalist have met investors, advisors, board members, business partners and business professionals through the semi-final reception, the awards event in the fall and through media attention received.
Whether it's 2005 Finalist HealthSimple who went on to successfully sell their business to Johnson & Johnson or 2006 Winner VAST Enterprises and their growth including a partnership with Fabcon, we hear stories of past entrants that have had great success since participating in the Minnesota Cup.
