Student Division
The Student division of the Minnesota Cup seeks out, supports, and celebrates Minnesota's most innovative and promising young entrepreneurs. Entrants must be full or part-time undergraduate or graduate students attending a college or university in Minnesota and who are between the ages of 19 and 30 and have less than 5 years of work experience.
Student Division Hosted by:
Student Division Supported by:
Awards and Benefits Include:
Student Division Winner:
- $10,000 in seed capital.
- Premium access to the Minnesota Angel Network.
- Professionally produced and edited video of final pitch at Grand Prize judging round courtesy of TECHdotMN
- Scholarship to The Collaborative’s Annual Minnesota Venture & Finance Conference.
Student Division Runner-up:
- $5,000 in seed capital
All finalists:
- Featured in a supplement that is included in the December issue of Twin Cities Business magazine.
- Division Finalist Training - "Winning Investment Presentations" by Spoken Impact.
- The opportunity to receive pro bono legal services from the University of Minnesota Law School's Business Law Clinic.
- Detailed feedback of their final written entry and oral presentation.
- The opportunity to present their plan to a review board of esteemed business leaders.
All semi-finalists:
- An invitation to attend a semi-finalist reception at the Carlson School of Management.
- The opportunity to be paired with a University of Minnesota alumni mentor with extensive entrepreneurial experience.
All entrants:
- Opportunity to learn about resources available to entrepreneurs and attend events organized/promoted by the Minnesota Cup.
- Networking with Minnesota Cup supporting partners and other entrepreneurs.
- A chance to improve the entrepreneur’s pitch given the required elements of the initial entry, which also represent a basic outline for a business plan.
- One year, complimentary subscription to Twin Cities Business.
- A valuable experience that will help all entrants as they work on their ventures.
Review Board for Student Division:
- Pam Bishop - Entrepreneur Senior Program Officer, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
- Brian Clark – Sr. Director, Innovation and Business Development, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
- Jordan Fineberg - Global Business Manager - 3M Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems
- Brian Gustafson - Senior Director, Portfolio Management, Tonkawa
- Cate Heaven – Corporate Attorney, Leonard, Street & Deinard
- Franz Hofmeister - Founder, Brands Across America President/CEO, Quaker Bakery Brands
- Steve Klick – Serial Entrepreneur
- David Moe – Sr. Manager, Distributor Development, The Toro Company
- Lloyd Sigel – Founder, Lloyd's Barbeque Co.
- Edward Bolton - VP of Culture, Proto Labs, Inc.






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