2024 MN Cup Competition (United States)

They host an annual competition that reaches emerging entrepreneurs from across the state and connects them with education, mentorship and support to launch and accelerate the development of their new ventures. Their competition and events are totally free, and they take no equity in exchange for the seed funding we give away. You won’t find any other industry-agnostic competition like theirs.

MN Cup is a startup competition and hub to direct mentorship, education and seed capital to the best new ventures in Minnesota. Their process leverages volunteer judges with industry and functional expertise in each of their nine divisions. Ten companies in each division will be selected by these judges to move forward into the semifinalist round, which will take place between May 20th and August 9th. Two subsequent rounds will further narrow the participants, ending at their Final Award Ceremony on Monday, September 16th.

Competition Divisions

• Education & Training
• Energy/Clean Tech/Water
• Food/Ag/Beverage
• General
• High Tech
• Life Science/Health IT
• Impact Ventures
• Student
• Youth

Benefits

• $400,000+ in seed money
• Mentorship opportunities with industry leaders
• Exclusive event access
• Business plan feedback
• Networking opportunities with potential investors
• Media exposure

Eligibility Criteria

• Demonstrate your startup/ company is based in Minnesota via entity formation or residence of founders
• Generate less than $1 million in annual revenue
• If your venture has previously been selected as a Division Winner from the MN Cup competition, we ask that you not re-apply. This goes for ventures that are subsidiaries of or owned by those winning entities. Previous MN Cup winning founders can participate again with new ventures that have no affiliation with those past prize-winning companies.

For more information, visit Carlson School of Management.