Since it launched in February, the Medical Alley Starts program has helped more than 200 businesses with financing, mentorships and networking.
Program lead Frank Jaskulke, vice president of intelligence for Golden Valley-based Medical Alley Association, said the program acts like a customer-service line for startups.
Rather than acting as incubator or accelerator, which gives intense support to a handful of companies, Starts is another piece of infrastructure to fill gaps in the community.
"Accelerators are very formal things, which are super useful," Jaskulke said. "What we've found is the gaps in the market are seemingly simple, but critically important connections."
Jaskulke said the program's high velocity allows for a greater volume of easy interventions that help companies remove immediate barriers.
Many basic functions for experienced entrepreneurs don't come as naturally for many first time entrepreneurs in the Medical Alley network, such as a scientist who developed a technology.
"Helping them connect to that key person, not as a mentor or an advisor necessarily, but just as someone who can say, 'Here's the road you're going down,' can be extremely impactful," Jaskulke said.
One of Starts' sponsors is Brooklyn Park-based Diversified Plastics Inc. (DPI), which uses additive manufacturing that is capable of printing engineered parts for medical devices.
Pairing companies with DPI eliminates a Catch-22 problem many early stage startups run into: Without a working prototype, companies can't prove its product is worth investing in. But without investments, it can't build a prototype.
Through a scholarship program, DPI is offering companies support with early stage engineering and production services to help them get off the ground.
DPI CEO Kevin Hogan said the program is ideal for companies that don't have enough funds to scale up their production or just need an engineer's help to refine their design.
"It's pretty cool that a company like them stepped up to say, 'Yeah, let's figure that out.' " Jaskulke said.
