Programs

MIN-Corps offers many options to explore innovation commercialization.  Scroll down past the calendar for information about:  Lunch and Learns - Value Proposition Design Workshops - STARTUP - Emerging Opportunities from Partners -  Women Innovators Conference 

Lunch-and-Learns

Lunch-and-learns are suspended until current social distancing recommendations from the CDC have been lifted.  Stay tuned for updates.

Value Proposition Design Workshops

The University of Minnesota MIN-Corps program is proud to work with Launch Minnesota, an initiative of MN-DEED, helping you translate your innovation to a fundable, high-growth business. We use the Lean Startup (also called Lean LaunchPad) approach, a structured process to quickly assess and refine business concepts, thus avoiding costly mistakes and accelerating your progress to market launch.  

Five hands-on sessions: lean startup intro, product-market fit, customer discovery, pathway to commercialization, and market assessment. For university-based teams, NSF-funded grants (up to $3,000) are available for customer research. Successful completion by academic teams can lead to nomination to the I-Corps National Teams program, which includes a $50,000 grant. These workshops are also valuable for innovators planning to apply for SBIR/STTR grants.  Sessions include individual mentoring and advice from industry executives and entrepreneurs.  Program is free to all partipants.  These workshops are designed to explore the potential commercialization of specific innovations. 

Q2 2020 Cohort
Begins April 22
Webinars 4-6pm
every other Wednesday

Register here

StartUp: Customer Development and Testing

STARTUP: Customer Development & Testing (MGMT 5102) is an experiential 2-credit course for UMN undergrad and grad students interested in pursuing their own entrepreneurial ventures.  Students apply lean launchpad methods to test their value proposition and receive recurring feedback from instructors and mentors. Participating students are eligible to receive seed capital grants up to $3,000 to fund prototype development and customer discovery.

Apply here.

Emerging Opportunities from Partners

Holmes Center Logo

Emerging Opportunities Forums on startup topics livestreamed via Zoom.  Click on the title to register: 

April 14th, 4 - 5:30 pm: Early Stage Startup Funding

Women Innovators Conference

The annual Women Innovators Conference is a professional development summit designed to help female innovators connect the dots between their ideas and achieving a positive, significant impact. This event will inspire, inform, and connect women students, faculty, and business professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) to strengthen and extend the diverse talent pool of women innovators in the Twin Cities.

The 2019 conference kicked off with "Innovation at the Speed of Laughter," an opening session led by Brave New Workshop, followed by an Applied Design Thinking workshop and two panels, "Translation: Insight to Real Life Innovation" and "Zigzag: Innovation Career Paths."  The event closed with Angie Conley, Founder, President, and CEO of MN Cup 2019 Grand Prize-winning company, Abilitech Medical.

 Check back for information about the 5th annual Women Innovators Conference, "Inclusive Innovation," which will take place on November 16 2020.