From hitting about $1.3 billion in venture-backed funding in 2022 — exceeding the previous year's total — to launching new funds to support the startup ecosystem, early-stage Minnesota companies seem well-positioned for growth in 2023.
Minne Inno has compiled a list of 12 startups that are worth paying attention to in the coming year. At different stages, these companies have either recently secured significant interest, are gearing up to go to market, or are facing high potential moving into 2023.
Mawadda
Mawadda, founded by two first-generation Black Muslim women, Yasmin Samatar and Firaoli Adam who are also respiratory therapists, provides a disposable hijab for women in health care settings.
The hijab, referred to as Hygienic Hijab, is patented and FDA-compliant, the startup says. Beginning in 2023, the company plans to make its product available to patients and workers in Minnesota and across the U.S.
TurnSignl
Launched in 2021, TurnSignl is a Minneapolis-based app that provides on-demand legal help to drivers who have been stopped by police. The company, run by CEO and General Counsel Jazz Hampton, was selected to be part of Google’s startup accelerator for Black founders.
The app is now live in 23 states after it launched in Alabama and Massachusetts in December, Hampton said on LinkedIn.
Omnia Fishing
E-commerce site Omnia Fishing saw its sales grow 400% in 2021 and saw a similar pace in 2022. The fishing-centered site, which also deals in fishing data, recently raised $4 million to drive growth in user-generated content.
This fall, Omnia moved into a more spacious 30,000-square-foot warehouse, allowing the company to scale its operation and ability to build a cohesive work environment, Co-founder and CEO Matt Johnson said on LinkedIn.
HistoSonics Inc.
HistoSonics Inc. is a Plymouth-based med-tech startup that's creating a noninvasive device to destroy cancerous tissue. It recently raised $100 million, $85 million of which was secured in a convertible-note form of financing, in a post-Series C round.
The funding will go toward supporting HistoSonics' anticipated commercial launch of its device, called Edison, by the second half of 2023. The device has a price tag of $1 million.
Oncodea
Oncodea is a St. Paul-based startup that has developed a working early cancer-detection model. Led by CEO and Co-founder Dan Que Pham, the company recently won a division of the Walleye Tank, a Minnesota life and medical science pitch competition presented by the Mayo Clinic Office of Entrepreneurship. Looking ahead, the company plans to pursue clinical trials and regulatory approval.
Notable biotech entrepreneur Ping Yeh, who advises Oncodea, told Twin Cities Business last year, “They are able to screen small amounts of blood; ironically, it sounds similar to what Theranos said they could do, except Oncodea seems to be actually doing it.”
Maazah
Maazah, a local Afghan-American-owned chutney business, is preparing for a next phase of growth in 2023, including financing for new products, expanding into new markets, and launching with national retailers. In 2021, the company secured a spot in Cincinnati-based retail giant Kroger's first Go Fresh & Local Supplier Accelerator cohort and in Kroger stores. Working with Kroger has since positioned the company for more growth opportunities nationwide, the company said.
The cilantro-driven chutney, turning mom's "magic green sauce" into a bottled condiment, is currently available in more than 10 states in retailers like Hy-Vee and co-ops like the local Seward Community Co-op, Maazah's website states.
GenEQTY
GenEQTY is a Minneapolis-based open-banking platform for financial institutions that are focused on small to midsized businesses. Run by Founder and CEO Dionne Gumbs, who has had longtime experience in the finance world, the company joined Mastercard’s Start Path program in 2021.
Looking ahead, Gumbs envisions transforming how institutions give out capital, advice and products to the small to midsized business market, according to a sponsored post on The Atlantic.
ProsperStack
ProsperStack, a Minneapolis-based low-code, software-as-a-service provider for subscription-based businesses, recently raised $2 million, led by Chicago-based Sandalphon Capital. Local venture capital firms Groove Capital, Gopher Angels and Twin Ignition are investors, the company says.
The company boasts the ability to automate and enhance subscription retention for businesses. Its customers include Hootsuite, Roll20, SwingU and Soundstripe.
BKB Floral Foam
BKB Floral Foam Inc., a startup that develops floral foam blocks out of a bio-based material that can degrade, took home the first-place prize in the Minnesota Cup this fall. The company looks to disrupt an estimated $500 million market for floral foam, a plastic product typically made from petroleum.
BKB anticipates going to market by mid-2023 and to hit almost $50 million in annual revenue by 2027, BKB told Minne Inno.
YourPath
YourPath, a St. Paul-based health technology startup that looks to assist those with substance-use disorders, is led by three co-founders who themselves live with long-term recovery.
Since the company first started seeing patients in 2021, YourPath has helped more than 1,500 of them. It was the only Minnesota-based startup to be chosen for the UnitedHealthcare Accelerator program, which recently concluded.
VOCxi Health
VOCxi Health is a breath-diagnostics startup that works to measure disease using its patented smart mask. It is led by CEO Ping Yeh, a notable biotech entrepreneur who previously worked for years at Seagate Technology and who now also advises another startup, Oncodea.
VOCxi recently secured $1.6 million through a SAFE note, also known as a simple agreement for future equity, which was led by Minneapolis-based Engage Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that launched in 2022.
R.Cup
R.Cup, a Minneapolis-based company that offers a reusable cup system for live event venues, which has already been used at First Avenue and Target Center, is anticipating expansion in the new year.
The company raised over $3.6 million in 2022. Now in Denver, Seattle and Los Angeles, R.Cup plans to place a handful of fully operational hubs — for sanitizing the cups after use and re-distributing — in other cities, including in the Twin Cities, in 2023.
