MN Cup 2020 and COVID-19

Thursday, March 12, 2020

We've received a number of questions regarding our application launch, planned for Monday, March 16th. Folks are wondering if our timeline and events will change in response to the virus. The short answer is, no. The longer answer is, sortof! Our application process is 100% online, so the application format and timeline will not change. For the previous four seasons, we had hosted an in-person launch party to mark the occasion and celebrate a new season with the community. Luckily, we had already planned to launch differently this year -- ie, we had not intended to host that event even before the Coronavirus began to spread. We've been allocating that budget and energy toward hosting more small events with community partners, competition alumni and regional partners throughout the state. We hoped that by shifting our focus to regional & virtual events, MN Cup would be more accessible to more Minnesotans. That decision has paid off even more than we'd anticipated, given that we would have certainly cancelled such an event in light of CDC guidelines and the U of M's event policies. We will still plan to host a number of info sessions, office hours and division-specific events over the next month --- they will just be virtual! To stay up to date on when those events will take place and how you can log-on to participate, please subscribe to our MN Cup newsletter by emailing hellomncup@umn.edu . We think this will be a fantastic season, and hope you'll help us spread the word that the competition is ON and we're still here to support early-stage entrepreneurs across the state. 

 

 

Take care of yourselves, and thank you for your support,

Jessica & the MN Cup Team