Organizers are gearing up for this year’s celebration of innovation: Twin Cities Startup Week, which will focus on entrepreneurship in the Minnesota community — and not just in the tech sector..
The annual event again takes on a hybrid approach this year, with presentations, panels and workshops taking place virtually and in-person over Sept. 16-23. This year’s event, in particular, looks to go beyond focusing on technology to feature those who are in the entrepreneurial community as a whole, said Shelisa Demuth, executive director at Beta, which runs the event.
Most startups are entrepreneurial by default, but Demuth, who began in her position with Beta at the beginning of this year, said the event's calendar includes "something for everyone who is an entrepreneur, who is involved in entrepreneurship, who is working on a founding team, who is supporting entrepreneurs in their life."
For example, Startup Week's list of speakers include Anisha Murphy, founder of Just Law, which provides entrepreneurs, businesses and nonprofits with legal services and business coaching.
Twin Cities Startup Week organizers announced this week the event’s two official venues for a main stage and community hub: the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul will host events on Sept. 19-20; Finnegans Brewery in Minneapolis will take over for the last three days, according to Tech.mn. Other presentations and workshops will take place throughout the Twin Cities at various venues and virtually. More information on the event's schedule is available here.
The event will feature a day for each of the startup week’s main tracks, according to a description of the event:
- Spotlight, Sept. 19 – covering general topics and special features
- Funding, Sept. 20 – looking at raising capital, crowdfunding and bootstrapping
- Growth, Sept. 21 – digging into sales, marketing, scale and automation
- Product, Sept. 22 – covering design, software development and user interface/user experience
- Culture, Sept. 23 – examining diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as social impact and people in general
There will also be weekend content featuring a “future of our cities” track and for the first time ever, a “youth in tech” track, Demuth said.
“Getting younger tech talent and younger creativity and entrepreneurs involved … is something that I’m really proud to bring to this community, together as a team at Beta,” Demuth said.
And this year also saw the event’s first steering committee, including members like Angel Even, founder and CEO of Led by Truth, and Audra Robinson, founder and CEO of Rocky Robinson Self-Care for Girls, according to the Twin Cities Startup Week website.
“We have a big community and it means that while there are only a few cooks in the kitchen, there are a lot of people who are contributing to making it a really excellent experience,” Demuth said.
The week culminates in the Minnesota Startup Awards, where companies, entrepreneurs and individuals are given awards based on their success and drive within the ecosystem.
Organizers anticipate 5,200 attendees in-person and virtually, Demuth said.
Other events will also take place in and around Twin Cities Startup Week, including the Minnesota Cup showcase, Minnedemo, the Beta showcase and the Lunar Summit.
“The thing that enthuses me most is to see how the community comes together to support people who are brave enough to take a chance on their ideas and offer their services or their product or whatever intellectual property they're bringing, to bring them to life,” Demuth said.
