Launch Minnesota, a program of the Small Business Development Office at the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), collaborated with regional partners across the state to ensure every region had a pitch competition connected to MN Cup, the state's largest startup competition.

Startup founders in each region applied to participate in their local competition and, if selected, received the opportunity to give a live pitch to judges and community members. Regional winners received cash prizes and automatic entry to the MN Cup semi-final round.

The Launch Minnesota Networks organized pitch competitions in every part of the state: Northwest (NoW Innovators), Northeast (Innovate 218), Southwest (Startup SW), Southeast (E1 Collaborative) and West Central (Fastlane94). This is the second year that every region in Minnesota has had an MN Cup feeder competition.

This year's MN Cup is already setting records. Organizers reported that 3,052 Minnesotans participated in the application process this spring – exceeding MN Cup's previous application record by 17%. Additionally, 887 applications were submitted from 67 of Minnesota's 87 counties. Organizers said that roughly 30% of this year's applicants were from Greater Minnesota.

MN Cup has been a strong partner of Launch Minnesota and has helped create pathways of success with entrepreneurs throughout the state. Launch Minnesota's regional networks have created additional awareness of the competition in more Minnesota communities and ensured that more startups have access to opportunities like this.

MN Cup is a community-led, public-private partnership supporting Minnesota's entrepreneurs. The annual competition reaches startup founders across the state and connects them with education, mentorship and support to launch and accelerate the development of their new ventures. Companies can apply directly to the MN Cup organization; they do not have to participate in the regional startup competitions to be selected for MN Cup.

The competition takes place over several months, is free to participate in and requires no equity for seed funding awarded through the process. Each spring, judges select 90 companies — 10 in each of MN Cup's nine categories — as semifinalists to advance in MN Cup. Categories include Education & Training, Food/Agriculture/Beverage, General, Impact Ventures, Life Science/Health IT, Youth, Student, Energy/Clean Technology/Water and High Tech.

MN Cup announced the 89 companies moving forward in the semifinalist round on May 24. The competition will now continue largely out of the public eye for the rest of the summer. Judges will select finalists in each division in August, and division winners will be announced in late summer. An overall grand prize winner for the competition will be chosen on September 18 during Twin Cities Startup Week.

The following startups won their regional competitions and will advance to the semifinalist round of MN Cup:

Southeast

• QoL Devices: QoL Devices Inc. is the creator of The Alvio® Respiratory Training System, an all-in-one respiratory muscle trainer, Bluetooth game controller, and symptom tracker that lets you Play Your Way to Better Breathing!™.

Southwest

• Fin's Finest Labs: Creating technology to diagnose illness in animals.

Northeast

• Francisco Hockey: Offering contact and concussion prevention camps for hockey players of all ages.

Northwest

• HEMO Research: An original equipment manufacturer providing electronics modules and development tools that accelerate the design and development of product to allow for faster entry to market.

West Central

• Talknician: Creating pathways for more efficient knowledge transfer within the industrial workforce via augmented reality.