What exactly makes a company cool? Sure, office happy hours and video game tournaments are always fun, but what draws top talent to local companies then makes them want to stick around?
As Minne Inno sourced nominations for our inaugural Coolest Companies Fest, we discovered that a company is cool as long as its employees love showing up to work every day. And in the Twin Cities' tech and startup scene, there's no shortage of really cool companies.
Almost two months ago, we asked our readers to tell us about the most interesting, innovative startups in Minnesota. We received dozens upon dozens of nominations, and ultimately ended up with a finalist pool of nearly 90 companies.
At our official celebration in the North Loop on Thursday evening, Minne Inno handed out 11 awards. Five winners were selected through readers' choice voting, and six others were awarded superlatives by the Minne Inno editorial team.
Here are Minne Inno's 2018 Coolest Companies winners:
MOST ECO-FRIENDLY Tech Dump
Since Tech Dump was founded in 2011, the organization has dedicated itself to finding responsible ways to recycle electronics. In 2016 alone, Tech Dump processed more than five million pounds of electronic waste. The organization also has a retail extension called Tech Discounts, which sells refurbished phones, computers and other items.
TOP TWIN CITIES TECH ADVOCATE Minnestar
Minnestar has been a pillar in the Minnesota startup scene for more than a decade. The nonprofit gives local entrepreneurs a platform to shine through events like Minnedemo, its "geek show and tell" where local founders demonstrate their creations to an audience that often consists of hundreds of people.
COOLEST NEW STARTUP Runerra
Less than a year after Runerra was founded by a group of University of Minnesota students, the fledgling startup was accepted to the highly-selective local Target + Techstars retail accelerator. Runerra is building a platform that encourages neighbors to run errands for each other.
ALL-AROUD COOLEST (in alphabetical order) 75F
There are a lot of cool things about 75F, and Minne Inno is far from the first to recognize this fact. The Burnsville-based smartenergy startup won the Minnesota Cup, the state's largest startup competition, in 2014. Not long after, 75F received funding from Rise of the Rest. Today the company, which uses wireless sensors and other tech to regulate temperatures throughout commercial buildings, is growing quickly both in Minnesota and around the country.
VidGrid (formerly ilos Videos)
VidGrid makes business software for creating and sharing videos. Employees spoke passionately about the company's mission, culture and its benefits, such as flexible hours, St. Paul Saints outings and daily video game sessions.
When I Work was founded nearly a decade ago, and today is one of Minnesota's most well-established tech startups. Despite its age and size, When I Work remains nimble and employee-focused, workers told Minne Inno. The company offers training on company, manager, department and individual levels. It prides itself in offering non-traditional company events like improv lessons at Brave New Workshop.
AUDIENCE CHOICE WINNERS (in order of most votes)
