Skip to content

Cem Erdem Hits the Accelerator

"The East and West coasts, they are eating our lunch,” says Cem (pronounced “gem”) Erdem. Last year’s results from the Kauffman Foundation’s annual state-by-state index of entrepreneurial activity struck a nerve in him. “Minnesota is fifth from the bottom, and that’s killing me.” He exhales. “We are losing ground.” Turkish-born Erdem came to the Twin Cities in 1994 and successfully bootstrapped an Internet software company, Augusoft, which makes online course registration software used by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and hundreds of other schools. Now Erdem, 42, worries that young would-be entrepreneurs in the state are missing both the support infrastructure and the perspective to make it through the missteps and tough times of an early-stage start-up. His answer: Project Skyway, an accelerator program that starts taking applications this April. Named for his own unproductive attempts years ago to drum up business in the Minneapolis skyways, the program will mentor, incubate, and fund tech start-ups.

(Continue reading…)

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *