Episode 88: New MILE Program to Provide Financial Options for Minnesota Entrepreneurs

This week on the podcast we talk about a new program offering financial assistance for entrepreneurs in MN, called Minnesota Innovation Loans for Entrepreneurs (MILE). This program provides interest free loans between $20K-50K, targeting early stage businesses developing high tech products or services to encourage the growth and sustainability of early stage startups in Minnesota and to increase job creation in the state. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is accepting applications for the MILE program now through 4:30 PM July 16th.

Today on the podcast we talk about:

• MN DEED’s MILE loan program, targeting early stage startups in aerospace, ag and food processing, biotech, energy efficiency and conservation, information technology, materials science, medical device, pharmaceuticals, process control, and telecommunications.
o Apply and find out more about the scoring criteria for the MILE loan program by clicking here.
• SBIR (Small business innovation research)/STTR (Small business technology transfer) grants, which qualify as a 1:1 financial match required for a MILE loan.
o SBIR/STTRs are NIH programs to facilitate the commercialization of research. These grants are one of the largest sources of early stage financing for early stage life science companies.
o Find out more about SBIR/STTR programs by clicking here.
• MN-SBIR, a program that provides free, confidential assistance to early stage startups, specifically to prepare the startups to submit SBIR/STTR applications.
o Pat Dillon from MN-SBIR will be in Rochester next on June 22nd. Schedule time to meet with Pat by emailing her at: [email protected]
• For more detailed information on our criteria for press releases and opinion piece submissions, click here.

This week on the podcast we talk about a new program offering financial assistance for entrepreneurs in MN, called Minnesota Innovation Loans for Entrepreneurs (MILE). This program provides interest free loans between $20K-50K, targeting early stage businesses developing high tech products or services to encourage the growth and sustainability of early stage startups in Minnesota and to increase job creation in the state. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) is accepting applications for the MILE program now through 4:30 PM July 16th.

Today on the podcast we talk about:

·      MN DEED’s MILE loan program, targeting early stage startups in aerospace, ag and food processing, biotech, energy efficiency and conservation, information technology, materials science, medical device, pharmaceuticals, process control, and telecommunications.

o   Apply and find out more about the scoring criteria for the MILE loan program by clicking here.

·      SBIR (Small business innovation research)/STTR (Small business technology transfer) grants, which qualify as a 1:1 financial match required for a MILE loan.

o   SBIR/STTRs are NIH programs to facilitate the commercialization of research. These grants are one of the largest sources of early stage financing for early stage life science companies.

o   Find out more about SBIR/STTR programs by clicking here.

·      MN-SBIR, a program that provides free, confidential assistance to early stage startups, specifically to prepare the startups to submit SBIR/STTR applications.

o   Pat Dillon from MN-SBIR will be in Rochester next on June 22nd.  Schedule time to meet with Pat by emailing her at: [email protected]

·      For more detailed information on our criteria for press releases and opinion piece submissions, click here.