This story is part of Chicago Inno's 'Inno on the Road' series, which ran in December and looked at the tech and startup scene in Minneapolis-St.Paul, Minn. You can see all Twin Cities tech stories here, and other Inno on the Road series here.
Undergraduate student founders seeking serious cash should look north.
Next April, University of St. Thomas, a private Catholic university in St. Paul, Minn. that enrolls about 10,000 students, will host the first ever E-Fest, a national competition for undergraduate entrepreneurs with a top prize of $100,000 (as well as additional cash prizes that will be donated to the founders' school).
St. Thomas is both looking to build off the success of its internal business competition and strong alumni networks, which have produced successful local startups, as well as boost their image to entrepreneurship-minded students across the country.
"If you look on the East Coast and West Coast, most people will agree on one or two schools that are tops [for entrepreneurship]," said Brian Abraham, associate dean of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at St. Thomas. "We want to be that in the Midwest, which will make us a national name."
A national competition that boosts student founders (and their schools)
"There really isn’t a marquis undergraduate [business] competition," said Abraham. "So seeing the gap in the marketplace...we decided we should do that."
E-Fest, which is funded by the Schulze School and EIX, an online consortium of entrepreneurship resources, will select 25 finalist startups from around the country to compete for over $250,000 in grants and scholarships at a competition from April 6 to 8. The top prize is $100,000, second prize is $50,000 and third prize is $25,000, and an additional $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 will be donated to the entrepreneurship program at the winning startups' universities.
There will also be a one-night "Innovation Challenge" that awards $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000 in scholarships to student teams who develop a business solution to a problem posed that evening. The event will also include entrepreneurship workshops and keynote speeches from Richard M. Schulze, founder and chairman emeritus of Best Buy, and Daymond John, founder of FUBU and a Shark Tank judge.
To qualify for the competition, startups have to be from a university that has signed up for the competition (so they can get funds to boost their entrepreneurship education), and the founder has to be an undergraduate student registered during the 2017 spring semester. Teams are limited to four students, and must be accompanied by a faculty advisor. To apply, startups submit a seven-minute video and 15 slides detailing their business ideas starting in mid-January (deadline February 17). All travel expenses for the 25 startups competing in the finals will be paid.
Universities can also apply for $2,500 business development grants (E-Fest will award 100 total) to help student startups on campus develop their ventures.
Building on entrepreneurship foundations
Already St. Thomas has a robust series of classes, competitions and support that turn student ideas into ventures.
St. Thomas was among the first schools in the nation to offer entrepreneurship training at the undergraduate level, starting in the early 1980s, Abraham said, they're continuing to grow their offerings: This spring they're adding an entrepreneurship minor. Since St. Thomas isn't a top-tier research university, like nearby Twin Cities technology powerhouse University of Minnesota, so they focus on teaching, and emphasize cross disciplinary entrepreneurship by non-business school students.
"We’re very hands on, we’re very pragmatic, we’re very action oriented," Abraham said. "Really where we shine is in the classroom with students."
A fall business concept competition, the Fowler Business Concept Competition, challenges students to pitch their new venture ideas to a panel of judges, and the winners receive scholarships. That also lays the groundwork for a spring business plan competition (which is also open to high school students) where students can win up to $20,000 in seed funding for their startup. An in-house fund--the William C. Norris Institute, part of St. Thomas' College of Business--makes investments of up to $75,000 in Minnesota startups, with preference to St. Thomas alums, and trains students on due diligence, investing and working with portfolio companies.
Along the way, startups can tap into the school's strong local alumni networks for mentors and resources. Abraham said in a recent survey there were about 1,300 St. Thomas alums within 200 miles of the campus with the title president, founder, owner, or CEO. "We have a very local loyal alumni base," he added.
This has led to a string of startup successes in various industries, including Bizzy Coffee, a cold brew coffee; Love Your Melon, a hat brand supporting children with pediatric cancer; and College Nannies and Tutors, a service that connects students to nanny and tutoring gigs.
THERE ARE 1,300 ST. THOMAS ALUMS WITHIN 200 MILES OF THE CAMPUS WITH THE TITLE PRESIDENT, FOUNDER, OWNER, OR CEO
St. Thomas networks also help startups well after graduation. James Bellefeuille, a 2011 St. Thomas grad, cofounded Vugo, a company that provides an advertising platform for ridesharing services (previously based in Chicago) and the 2016 High Tech winner of statewide pitch competition MN Cup, with another St. Thomas grad, Rob Flessner. Bellefeuille said he created most of his business networks from his time at St. Thomas, including potential investors.
"St. Thomas develops founders with a community mindset," he said. "We are attempting to return value not only to shareholders, but to all stakeholders including investors, employees, and the community at large."
Note: The story originally referred to Richard M. Schulze as Robert M. Schulze. The story has been updated.
