Harnessing Innovation in Minnesota
On a Thursday morning in early July, the New York Stock Exchange bell rang from Medtronic’s Fridley headquarters. The health tech giant’s CEO Geoff Martha swung the mallet, surrounded by nearly 30 CEOs and executives of Minnesota’s largest public companies, and he called on his counterparts within the Minnesota Business Partnership to invest in Minnesota’s headquarters economy.
“Let’s be clear, this ecosystem won’t sustain itself,” Martha said. “It takes attention. It takes investment. We have to evolve. It takes all of us working together and investing with urgency in both people and place … it means showing students and young professionals, the next generation, that Minnesota is the place to launch bold ideas and build meaningful careers.” (You can read senior editor Liz Fedor’s full report from the event, including one-on-one conversations with Martha, nVent CEO Beth Wozniak and Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.)
That same week, I talked to several champions of Minnesota’s startup community who are equally concerned about fueling innovation, especially as non-dilutive (grant) funding dries up at the state and federal level. Among the casualties of Minnesota’s budget cuts for the 2026-27 biennium is Launch Minnesota, a statewide program to accelerate startups deemed scalable. Since its 2019 inception, Launch MN has awarded $9.7 million to 383 companies, which then went on to raise more than $240 million in capital. That $9.7 million might sound like a drop in the bucket, but 66% of Launch Minnesota’s grants went to businesses owned by women, vets, BIPOC individuals, and residents of Greater Minnesota. For many, that $20,000 to $50,000 matching grant was akin to a “friends and family” round for those who don’t have wealthy relatives to write the first check. Without those grants, Mickayla Rosard, a partner with early-stage Minneapolis-based investment fund Groove Capital, worries “we could lose all the ground we’ve made in trying to have an equal launching board.”
Neela Mollgaard is executive director of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s office of Small Business and Innovation. She oversaw Launch MN’s grant program and has the testimonials to show that small investments make a big difference in driving new ideas and innovation “We don’t want to take a step backwards,” she says. The Launch MN office will continue to function as a support for entrepreneurs and small businesses, connecting them to resources and community partners.
The loss of Launch MN grants and some similar programs and accelerators is adding fuel to a conversation that’s gaining momentum among Minnesotans frustrated by the state’s sluggish startup ecosystem. We’re not growing as fast as some other Midwest markets—including those that couldn’t fill a Medtronic stage with nearly as many engaged and collaborative corporate CEOs.
Perhaps we’ve been going about building the startup ecosystem all wrong, says Matt Lewis, vice president of partnership strategy for Greater MSP. The regional economic development partnership is advocating for a shift from founder focus to problem-solving opportunities, be it in medtech or clean energy. “It’s about connecting all parts of the economy more intentionally,” he says, which could mean bringing large companies and small innovators together in a way that’s long seemed like it should be happening more often in a state that prides itself on its diverse and collaborative headquarters economy. Lewis makes the compelling case in his guest commentary, “Rethinking Minnesota’s Startup Mindset.”
This issue of TCB brings together so many of the key aspects of our business community: national leadership of locally engaged CEOs like Land O’Lakes’ Beth Ford, family-owned businesses built to last generations, and, in our StartMN section, innovators who are taking risks, solving problems, and designing the future—here and beyond. They’re all vitally important to our economy. I hope you’ll read on with an eye for opportunities to work across companies and sectors to ensure that we are indeed building the next generation of Fortune 500s in Minnesota.
