Impact

88 companies moved forward to the semifinal round of our competition and received free education, mentorship, sharable social media content, and connection to other resources. From June to August our team hosted/sourced: 14 Education Sessions, 46 Articles/Mentions/Interviews for our founders, and 52 one-on-one office hours.

During our second "pandemic season" our team worked hard to learn, improve and deliver the highest-value experience to the entrepreneurs that participated. From our early-year information and help sessions to our application opening on March 15 through our Final Award Ceremony on September 20, we hosted and supported 117 Free Events for our community and volunteers, and we could not do any of it without your support!

This season saw the largest number of applicants in our 17-year history. We received 779 completed applications which included 1,987 unique participants. Of those  1,987 participants, 36% were founders of color, 45% were female founders, and 3% were veteran founders.

Our volunteers were the real stars, however. With a full-time team of two, we would not be able to serve so many companies without the tremendous support of our volunteers and community partners. In 2021, we had 96 mentors, 134 judges, and an estimated total of 3,373 volunteer hours.

Since our founding in 2005, MN Cup has had a huge impact on Minnesota's economy. We greatly appreciate your belief in our work and your investment in the growth of our programs to support women and communities of color in Minnesota. Your dollars will help us do more and do better to reach EVERYONE in the state, and extend the benefits of our process to more people.

Nanodropper won our $50,000 Grand Prize in 2021 - led by Mayo Clinic Medical Student Allisa Song. It is the first time a Student Division team has ever won the MN Cup Grand Prize.