Startup founder Clare Richards sees excitement brewing within the St. Cloud area’s startup ecosystem.
Richards, who is CEO and co-founder of St. Cloud-based Impacks, which helps parents and educators access school supplies for students, just began leasing a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Waite Park to run her business. With that, she also raised more than $640,000 from investors, including Wayzata-based Traction Capital.
That a rural-based startup could attract such a significant investment speaks to the ecosystem's strength, she said.
“People have this perception of St. Cloud that it's just a bunch of mom-and-pop shops," she said. "… But we also have this emerging startup scene."
Momentum in supporting startups in St. Cloud has been increasing for the past several years, local leaders say. That’s been jumpstarted by entities like St. Cloud-based Great North Ventures, which formed in 2017, and Initiative Foundation with the launch of the first St. Cloud-based cohort of its Enterprise Academy in 2018.
The region’s economic development engine, the Greater St. Cloud Development Corp., also decided to put a greater emphasis on supporting startups. It now also delivers the state’s Launch Minnesota program, called Fastlane 94, which is tailored to growing startups in West Central Minnesota.
“We are very fortunate that we happen to be in St. Cloud right in this moment,” Richards said.
The St. Cloud region is no stranger to entrepreneurship. Throughout its 100-plus-year history, the area boasts the opening of one of the first-ever Ford dealerships, the founding of St. Cloud-based Coborn's Inc. in neighboring Sauk Rapids, and the foundation for the iconic retailer Herberger’s.
The historical evolution of such businesses in the area "has added a bit more fuel to our wanting to put a little bit more time and effort into supporting entrepreneurs and business startups, because it's played a really significant role over time within our regional economy,” said GSDC President Patti Gartland.
Stearns County saw 22% more business applications in 2021 compared to 2020 — faster growth than in either Hennepin County or Ramsey County, according to U.S. Census data.
Essential to emerging businesses are resources like access to capital, education and connections to key industry players, said Great North Ventures Co-founder Ryan Weber, who is also a resource navigator for Fastlane 94 and adviser for ILT Studios, another pillar in the St. Cloud startup ecosystem.
ILT Studios, which opened in the Davidson Opera House in downtown St. Cloud around the beginning of last year, helps to foster connections and educate founders. Over 70 entrepreneurs have since gone through its St. Cloud-based cohort, said CEO Nick Tietz.
“We're really trying to create a whole new pipeline of entrepreneurs who … have been traditionally overlooked and underserved because the startup education is not easily accessible,” Tietz said.
Since he arrived in St. Cloud in 2019, Tietz said the ecosystem has grown by leaps and bounds.
