Uncertainty was the norm in 2020.
No one could have seen the Covid-19 pandemic coming. Then, once the pandemic was a known quantity, no one could have predicted that the startup economy would boom. Indeed, venture capital flowed across the country, including in Minnesota. And what was put on hold in the spring had largely come to pass by the winter.
Maybe this year has revealed the foolishness of trying to predict the future, but we're going to try our best anyway. We've put together a list of companies that we expect to make news in 2021. Some raised venture money, while others told us they planned to. Some launched new products or opened in new markets, while others set the stage to do so.
You might know some of the names on this list, but hopefully you don't know them all. These are the 21 companies to watch in 2021.
Abilitech Medical
A repeat member of the list, Abilitech Medical announced this monththat its first product, the Abilitech Assist, is commercially available. Abilitech has other products in the pipeline, including a pediatric device and a device for people recovering from strokes, CEO Angie Conley said. The company is also working on a $20 million Series B that will close sometime next year. Abilitech was Minne Inno's Women-led Startup of the Year for 2020.
Aria CV
St. Paul-based Aria CV inched closer to getting its device, which treats pulmonary hypertension, on the market in 2020. The firm raised a $31 million Series B to continue testing the device after it received "breakthrough device" status from the FDA, meaning it's on the fast track to clearance. Aria also doubled its headcount in 2020; it has to undergo a final trial in 2021, CEO Dan Gladney said, which means it could raise venture cash again.
Bim Bam Boo
St. Paul-based bamboo toilet paper startup Bim Bam Boo leveraged the toilet paper shortage that gripped the U.S. earlier this year to grow: it's expanded its annual revenue from less than $1 million to more than $5 million, CEO Zoë Levin recently told Minne Inno. You can now buy Bim Bam Boo toilet paper in local stores like Kowalski's and national chains like Whole Foods. The startup, which is currently part of Lunar Startups' third cohort, has some big plans for 2021. It will be announcing a deal with another national retailer and a new product in the new year.
Bind Benefits
Health insurance startup Bind Benefits announced its $105 million Series B in October to help it expand its fully-insured offering to over 30 states by the end of 2021. The firm thinks its enrollment will double next year, it said at the time. Bind offers insurance that allows people to see treatment options and compare care costs before they receive care. It offers insurance to the employees of companies with self-insured or fully-insured plans.
Blue Cube Bio
Minnesota Cup-winning startups often get a big bump, and it's likely BlueCube Bio won't be an exception. BlueCube, which took home $80,000 at the Minnesota Cup for winning the contest's top prize and its LifeScience/Health IT division, makes a cryogenic storage solution for cell therapy companies. One of BlueCube's stem cell preservation solutions is already on the market, while another is expected to become available early next year.
Breathe99
The story of high-tech face mask startup Breathe99 is a tale of two Kickstarters. Its first Kickstarter campaign, in 2019, didn't even raise one-third of its $90,000 goal. The second, in April, with a retooled version of its filtering mask and the backdrop of Covid-19, cleared a $20,000 goal in just two hours and eventually raised almost $500,000. That got them a "Best Invention" nod from Time Magazine. Watch Breathe99 in 2021 to see how they adjust to the end of Covid and where they go next.
Dispatch
Bloomington-based logistics startup Dispatch has been growing rapidly since it was founded in 2016 and 2020 was no exception. The firm grew about 300 percent over the year before, CEO Andrew Leone said in July, and had grown from 1,000 customers in late 2018 to over 6,000 customers. Dispatch raised an $11 million Series B round of funding to keep the growth alive; it plans to as much as triple its product teams and expand internationally in 2021, starting with Europe.
Flywheel
Flywheel is a Minneapolis-based software startup that manages data for medical researchers and a repeat member of the Startups to Watch list. It is in the middle of putting together a Series B round of venture capital worth about $15 million, it recently told Minne Inno. Flywheel, which now has 71 employees, will use the funds to develop new products and continue to grow.
Fulcrum
Manufacturing software startup Fulcrumpro Inc. said it would more than double its headcount from 15 after it closed a $3.1 million seed round in September. At the time, Minneapolis-based Fulcrum said its growth rate was 11% month-over-month and it had about 50 customers. Fulcrum has received accolades for its efforts; it was named a runner-up in the Minnesota Cup's high-tech division and was named a Startup of the Year by Startup of the Year Summit.
Harvest Nation
Harvest Nation, a Tower-based startup that sells boxes of fresh produce on a subscription basis, had hoped to open its first farm this year, using aeroponic, or vertical farming, techniques to grow its crops. Those plans were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The startup, which is led by four Indigenous women, has turned heads at startup competitions this year; it received a $25,000 prize at the Minnesota Cup as the state's best veteran-led startup and is now a finalist in Meda's Million Dollar Challenge.
Joshin
Joshin is a tech startup that makes an app for booking caregivers for people with special needs. In July, the firm closed a $1.5 million seed round to expand into new markets, including Texas. The startup also recruited disability care activist Michael Kutcher (Ashton Kutcher's twin brother) as an advisor. Joshin was one of Minne Inno's Inno on Fire honorees for 2020.
Leah Labs
Leah Labs is creating a cure for cancer in dogs. The Rochester-based startup uses CAR-T cells, or genetically modified immune system cells, to fight cancer cells. It's already cured B cell lymphoma, a type of cancer common in dogs, in a test tube, but said it won't seek a seed round until it cures cancer in a dog. In 2020, the startup received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and almost $500,000 in equity crowdfunding.
Learn to Live
Covid-19 has been hard for many, but it's been good to telehealth startups. Case in point: Minneapolis' Learn to Live, which disclosed earlier this year it was working on a round of fundraising worth $5 million. CEO Dale Cook, wary of competition in the exploding telehealth space, declined to say much about the fundraising but did say Learn to Live has added over 2 million members since the pandemic began. Learn to Live offers online programs that treat mental health issues like depression and anxiety to businesses and schools that purchase the service for their employees and students.
Nice Healthcare
Nice Healthcare took pride in growing its business without venture funding, but the opportunity of accelerated growth during Covid-19 was too great to pass up. Nice, which offers in-home primary care and telehealth services, raised a $5 million seed round in October to expand its product to as many as 20 markets by early 2021. For reference, Nice was in just three markets (Minnesota, Salt Lake City, and Lincoln, Neb.) earlier this year. The new markets Nice is eyeing include Denver, Seattle and Las Vegas.
NightWare
NightWare Inc., a Minneapolis-based startup that treats nightmares caused by post-traumatic stress disorder with an Apple Watch, is living the dream after it received FDA approval in November. NightWare's technology works by monitoring the user's vitals for the signs of a nightmare. When a nightmare is detected, the watch vibrates, taking the user out of the nightmare without waking them up. The firm is now raising funds to help support its commercialization and has set $7 million as its goal.
RoundtableRx
Students at the University of Minnesota's College of Pharmacy started RoundtableRx, which is the state's first medication repository. A nonprofit, RoundtableRx takes donations of unexpired medications and redirected to people without insurance or who can't otherwise pay for them. The startup was a finalist in the Minnesota Cup's Student category and received a Crisis Innovator Blazer award from Minne Inno's Inno On Fire awards.
Shrpa
Rochester-based travel startup Shrpa has stayed busy in 2020. The startup, which makes a platform where travelers can sort through user-generated tours and experiences, is just coming off a stint as part of the gBETA Greater Minnesota St. Cloud accelerator's fall cohort. Shrpa also won the E1 Ignite Cup, a competition for entrepreneurs in Red Wing, and it was named the best Greater Minnesota startup at the 2020 Minnesota Cup.
Soona
In February of 2020, startup photo studio Soona was riding a wave of hype. January had been the strongest month ever for its studios in Minneapolis and Denver and the firm announced a $3.5 million seed round to help it expand. By the end of the year, Soona would open studios in Austin, New York City and Los Angeles, the firm said. Then Covid happened. Still, the firm trudged on, marketing its services to e-commerce companies and announcing they would be giving away free headshots. This fall, Soona opened its Austin location; New York and L.A. can't be far behind.
Traive
St. Paul-based ag-tech startup Traive was Minne Inno's 2020 Tech Madness champion after entering the tournament in the 15th seed. The one-time Techstars Farm to Fork company hasn't disappointed. It raised $2.5 million this year from Brazil-based SP Ventures, Bread and Butter Ventures and Techstars for its digital lending platform which connects lenders and farmers.
Vonzella
Vonzella is a Minneapolis-based for-profit bail cost-sharing program that aims to provide a cheaper alternative to bail bonds. A graduate of the 2019 Finnovation Lab cohort, Vonzella received $50,000 at the Minnesota Cup for winning the competition's Impact Ventures division and its Moonshot Prize, given to the company with the greatest long-term potential. Vonzella was given a World Impact Award at the Startup of the Year Summit.
Yardstik
There's actually a lot we don't know about Yardstik Inc., the background check software startup led by former Magnet360 CEO and co-founder Matt Meents. But what we do know is promising: it raised a $4.25 million round of venture capital led by Rally Ventures and is hiring for a number of technologist jobs. Expect more details to emerge in 2021.
