The Collider Cup: Celebrating Emerging Rochester Entrepreneurs

Collider to Host Community Celebration for Fourth Cohort of CO.STARTERS Graduates 

Rochester 501(c)3 nonprofit Collider Foundation is excited to announce that we are hosting our fourth Collider Cup pitch event, which was designed in 2022 to celebrate our CO.STARTERS graduates, give them the opportunity to share their unique business ideas with the Rochester community, and compete for a cash prize, provided by CO.STARTERS sponsor, Minnwest Bank. 

This winter, 10 different participants graduated from CO.STARTERS programming, facilitated by Collider. This included a 9 week cohort based program as well as an intensive one day business bootcamp. Our CO.STARTERS participants have worked hard within the program to fine tune their business ideas and determine next steps they need to take to move forward. 

The Collider Cup will take place on Tuesday, March 12th at Collider’s space in the Minnesota BioBusiness Center from 5:30-7:30pm. This event will serve as a business pitch competition as well as a community celebration for these emerging entrepreneurs in Rochester. Six of our CO.STARTERS graduates will be verbally pitching their business ideas. A panel of judges will determine the winner of the pitch competition. Three of our past CO.STARTERS participants will also be presenting their business ideas in an expo format, giving attendees a chance to ask questions and give feedback to each entrepreneur. 

Interested individuals can learn more and register for the event here.

Collider Foundation believes that the support, education, and growth of our entrepreneurial ecosystem is a pathway to a more prosperous and inclusive future for the Rochester community. We as an organization aim to identify and assist local innovators in overcoming barriers to success by empowering an impactful, inclusive, and entrepreneur-first ecosystem. We are excited to have had the opportunity to fulfill our mission through CO.STARTERS and offer assistance to local entrepreneurs through this cohort. 

For additional information contact Amanda Leightner at amanda@collider.mn or call (507) 722-0306