The future of the Launch Minnesota program may be in jeopardy after funding for it was left out of the state Senate's jobs bill, supporters of the program say.
The program, which provides grants and mentorship to early-stage entrepreneurs, has distributed over $3.2 million to more than 100 startup companies throughout the state. While supporters want $5 million from the state's budget allocated for the program, several senatorshope the program can continue apart from the government.
Launch Minnesota began in 2019 as a bipartisan effort between the Legislature, the governor, and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. It's run by Executive Director Neela Mollgaard, who is lobbying legislators to fund the program for 2022 and 2023.
"This is something Minnesota needs to do to stay competitive, nationally and globally," Mollgaard said, adding that 96% of Launch Minnesota participants said the program helped accelerate their business.
The program focuses on underrepresented entrepreneurs, including women, people of color, veterans and people in Greater Minnesota. The majority of recipients fall into at least one of those categories.
The sense of community the program provides is just as useful as the grants themselves, said Aneela Idnani Kumar, co-founder of startup HabitAware. Idnani Kumar runs a monthly meeting of entrepreneurs who have received grants from the state and is a recipient herself.
"[Launch Minnesota] does aim to reduce those disparities in funding and education in groups that have been marginalized," Idnani Kumar said.
The program was funded in the Democrat-dominated House's jobs bill, but not in the Republican-ledSenate's. Representatives from each body met for the first time on Wednesday to craft an omnibus jobs bill that will eventually go to the governor for approval.
State Sen. Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), was an early supporter of the program and is working on the jobs bill. He said that despite funding for the program not appearing in the Senate's jobs bill, he didn't want to see the program die.
Instead, he hopes the program would become self-sufficient and spin out of the government and into the private sector, as was planned when it launched.
"The Senate really wants to see it move and mature to what it was intended to be," Pratt said.
Pratt didn't rule out funding the program, but said the Legislature had more pressing priorities related to recovering from the recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision to keep Launch Minnesota a government program for the next two years is a strategic decision brought on by that same recession, Mollgaard said, adding that the time isn't right to move it into the private sector.
The current legislative session ends May 17. The Legislature hopes to send bills to Gov. Tim Walz the week before, said Rep. Erin Koegel (DFL-Spring Lake Park), adding that the best thing supporters of the bill can do is reach out to their local representatives.
"I'm hopeful. I think this is a great program," Koegel said.
