Monthly '1 Million Cups' in Mankato Program Launches for Entrepreneurs
Nov. 1: Monthly '1 Million Cups' in Mankato Program Launches for Entrepreneurs
Beginning Nov. 1, "1 Million Cups" events will be held in Mankato the first Wednesday of each month.
2017-11-02
MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY, MANKATO MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE NEWS RELEASE, 10-25-2017
Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato’s College of Business and Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship are participating in “1 Million Cups,” a national program intended to engage, educate and connect local entrepreneurs, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 1 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, located in the Strategic Partnership Center in Old Town Mankato (424 N. Riverfront Drive).
Subsequent 1 Million Cups events in Mankato are scheduled for the first Wednesday of each month at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The Wednesday, Nov. 1 event will feature scheduled presentations by College of Business alumni startups UnderRecruited Preps, an online sports recruitment concept, and Social Butterfly, a social media and content generation company.
Founded by the Kauffman Foundation, based in Kansas City, Mo., 1 Million Cups is based on the notion that entrepreneurs network and discover solutions over a million cups of coffee. The free gatherings help build start-up communities on a grassroots level.
The program’s model is consistent in each participating city nationwide: At every session, two early-stage startups present their companies to an audience of mentors, advisers and other entrepreneurs. Each founder presents for six minutes, followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session with the audience.
“It’s important to have a regularly scheduled weekly gathering for Mankato-area small business startups to learn and network,” said Yvonne Cariveau, who directs the Minnesota State Mankato Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “1 Million Cups offers an exciting forum to connect with and retain student entrepreneurs in our region. The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is happy to be hosting the weekly Wednesday morning events.”
For more information, contact Amy Linde, director of communication & events in Minnesota State Mankato’s College of Business, by phone at 507-389-5424 or by email at amy.linde@mnsu.edu.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful. The Kauffman Foundation is based in Kansas City, Mo., and uses its $2 billion in assets to collaboratively help people be self-sufficient, productive citizens. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org, or on social media at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn.
Minnesota State Mankato’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is part of the University’s College of Business and serves the entire University (students, faculty and staff) as well as alumni and private and public businesses and organizations. The Center’s mission is to facilitate the launch of the next generation of entrepreneurs, innovators and dynamic organizations through education, research and outreach.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,712 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which comprises 31 state institutions.
