The year is coming to a close, which means it is time to look back at some of the biggest Minnesota tech and startup stories from 2018. This year’s list includes the arrival of dockless scooters and several significant exits for local startups.

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Is there a story that you think we missed? Reach out: mkennedy@americaninno.com.

Microsoft Makes its First Acquisition of a Minnesota Startup

In June, Microsoft acquired Minneapolis-based tech startup Flipgrid, an education-technology platform, for an undisclosed amount. This was Microsoft’s first acquisition of a Minnesota startup. At the time of the announcement, Flipgrid was being used by around 20 million students in 180 countries. The company was started about three years ago by University of Minnesota Learning Technologies Professor Charles Miller. Flipgrid’s leadership team also includes seasoned tech veterans Phil Soran and Jim Leslie – who have both previously founded and sold their tech companies.

Bright Health Breaks Another Record, Approaches Unicorn Status

Bright Health, an insurance startup led by a group of healthcare industry veterans, closed on a $200 million round of venture capital in November. Bright’s $200 million Series C is likely the largest venture capital raise in Minnesota history. The previous holder of that record? Bright Health. Just last year, the company raised $160 million in a round led by Greenspring Associates.

Bright Health is now valued at approximately $950 million, according to Pitchbook. If Pitchbook’s calculations are correct, that puts Bright just $50 million shy of “unicorn” status. At the time, the company declined to comment to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal about Pitchbook’s number. If Bright reaches a $1B valuation, it would Minnesota’s first unicorn.

Bite Squad Scooped Up for $321M

Bite Squad, a Minneapolis-based food-delivery startup that has been expanding across the country in recent years, was acquired by Waitr, another restaurant-delivery platform, for around $321 million. Bite Squad was founded in 2012 and has approximately 889,000 active users, the company said. Bite Squad has partnerships with more than 11,000 restaurants in 350 cities across the country. Bite Squad said that it will keep its management and offices in downtown Minneapolis after the acquisition is completed.

Techstars Accelerates in Minnesota

Boulder, Colo.-based Techstars kicked off a new accelerator in Minnesota this year, and announced plans to modify its other Twin Cities program. Techstars Farm to Fork, a new agriculture-technology program that Techstars established in partnership with Ecolab and Cargill, unveiled its first crop of startups in July. Over the course of the summer, nine startups worked with more than a hundred mentors from agriculture and technology businesses in the Twin Cities to grow and accelerate their businesses. Farm to Fork concluded with a demo day during Twin Cities Startup Week.

Techstars’ other Twin Cities program, a retail accelerator with Target, announced a major change in December. Target said that it would partner instead with German company Metro AG for next year’s accelerator. Target and Techstars were working together under a three-year agreement, which expired at the end of this year’s program. The new accelerator is “certified” by Techstars, but not run by the organization. Ryan Broshar, the founding director of Target’s retail accelerator, announced that he had officially left the program one week after the announcement.

Dockless Scooters and Bikes Arrive in the Twin Cities

There was speculation early in the summer that dockless bikes and scooters were on their way to the Twin Cities. But it was unclear which company would arrive first and where they would make their debut. Then in early July (without warning the cities) Santa Monica, Calif.-based Bird swooped into Minneapolis and St. Paul. Bird’s competitor Lime followed suit. After a few tense weeks (and more than one request to move the scooters entirely), Bird and Lime worked out deals with Minneapolis and St. Paul, agreeing to a trial period. This trial period expired in November.

(Photo via Bird)

Local bike-sharing organization Nice Ride Minnesota also announced in July that it planned to add dockless bikes to its fleet. Nice Ride worked with Motivate, the largest bike share operator in North America, to bring dockless bikes to the city. After more than a year of careful planning, the dockless fleet made its Minneapolis debut in September.

Minnesota Cup Expands

Minnesota Cup, the state’s largest startup competition, had a record number of participants in 2018, thanks in part to the addition of a new division for education startups. The education and training division was intended for businesses developing technology or services related to education, training, workforce or professional development. This was the first new division added to the Cup in four years. This year’s competition featured 90 companies. Cedar Labs, a startup building tech tools that schools can implement for easier data access, ultimately won the new education division, walking away with the $30,000 prize.

Rise of the Rest Establishes a Permanent Presence in Minnesota

Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest initiative, which aims to draw attention and capital to startups based outside the coasts, got boots on the ground in the Twin Cities this year. Revolution, Case’s Washington D.C.-based venture capital firm, hired Mary Grove to serve as a partner on its Rise of the Rest effort. Grove moved to the Twin Cities from California, where she had been serving as founding director of Google for Entrepreneurs. After Grove’s official arrival in May, Rise of the Rest quickly backed two local companies: St. Paul-based Structural and Minneapolis-based Dispatch.

Minne Inno’s Mayo Clinic Story

In between daily editions of The Beat, Minne Inno had time to sink its teeth into a few big projects. Our favorite was Made at Mayo, a deep dive into the innovation ecosystem in Rochester. Mayo Clinic has been regarded as a hub for cutting-edge medical research for most of its existence. But for years, the healthcare giant barred its doctors and researchers from participating in most types of entrepreneurship.

Photo via Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.

That changed in 2013. It’s been five years since the Mayo changed its policies surrounding entrepreneurship. This seemingly small clinical culture shift has had measurable impacts not just on the clinic’s 3,000 physicians, but on the Mayo Clinic’s hometown of Rochester. By flipping on the city’s entrepreneurial switch, the move single-handedly sprouted a startup ecosystem in Rochester, as med-tech startups, accelerators, coworking spaces and a venture capital ecosystem have flourished in the area over the last half decade.

35W in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the sun is setting. Long Exposure to show the light trails from the traffic below. The buildings of the skyline lights begin to glow as the night approaches.