Lunar Startups launched its first cohort Monday with six local startups made up of entrepreneurs from underserved or underrepresented backgrounds.
The startups in Lunar's first class were selected from a pool of 45 applicants, the incubator said in a release. The majority of Lunar's companies are led by a person of color, and more than half are led by women.
As an incubator, Lunar does not take equity in the participating companies, but asks that entrepreneurs pay $100 a month during the year-long program. In exchange, startups receive workspace, mentorship, potential connections to capital and other business benefits.
Powered by a $1 million investment from the Knight Foundation, Lunar was launched earlier this year by American Public Media, the parent company of Minnesota Public Radio. The operation is housed in Osborn370, a 20-story building in downtown St. Paul that its investors hope becomes a hub for startups in the Twin Cities. In addition to Lunar, Osborn370 is home to another new startup program, Techstars Farm to Fork, which debuted its first crop of startups last week.
Lunar Startups is led by two women with prior entrepreneurship experience in the Twin Cities startup scene. Before joining Lunar Startups, Managing Director Melissa Kjolsing Lynch spent five years leading the Minnesota Cup, the state’s largest startup competition. Danielle Steer, Lunar’s senior program manager, helped establish Impact Hub MSP, a coworking space for local impact entrepreneurs.
"We really want to build up these underestimated entrepreneurs," Lynch previously told Minne Inno. "And in the long term, we hope that when these companies are exiting or creating their own social capital, they will be able to invest some of that back into the market and into other underestimated entrepreneurs."
Here are the six startups in Lunar's first class:
26 Letters
26 Letters is a data insights and analytics startup that creates tech solutions to help institutions recruit, train and grow talent in today's workforce.
Asiya
Asiya aims to increase sport participation rates among Muslim girls by developing activewear that enables physical activity while upholding religious and cultural beliefs. Asiya won the Minnesota Cup's impact ventures division in 2016.
Clutch SOS
Clutch SOS is a safety startup providing "virtual witness intervention" in potentially dangerous situations using audio recordings.
Dojour
Dojour is a calendar system that provides an easy-to-use platform for organizations to post and share their events on websites, social media and elsewhere on the web.
Monicat Data
Monicat Data is an agency providing data management and tech solutions for the creative economy.
Take 12
Take 12 is a crowdfunding service that allows friends and family to relieve the financial stress of unpaid maternity leave for working mothers by giving financial gifts in lieu of a traditional baby registry. Take 12 participated in gener8tor's gBETA accelerator program for early-stage companies this spring.
