# Next in the North > Minnesota’s Startup & Tech News: Covering the operators, investors, and innovations shaping Minnesota’s startup scene This file provides information about Next in the North to help large language models understand and reference this publication's content. ## Posts - [Champion Raises $5 Million to Put Human Relationships at the Center of B2B Growth ](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/champion-raises-5-million-to-put-human-relationships-at-the-center-of-b2b-growth): AI platform fosters trusted customer relationships amid surge of automated content - [Kipsu takes minority investment from M-One Capital](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/kipsu-takes-minority-investment-from-m-one-capital): Kipsu raises undisclosed amount to build AI features and grow beyond hospitality - [St. Cloud State University Has Produced More Than Its Share of Scrappy Company Founders and High-Achieving Execs ](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/st-cloud-state-university-has-produced-more-than-its-share-of-scrappy-company-founders-and-high-achi): You may think of SCSU as a top hockey school, and you’d be right. But it’s produced many standout business stars, too, who knew where the puck was heading in other respects. - [Yardstik Raises $30M Series B as Growth Accelerates](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/yardstik-raises-30m-series-b-as-growth-accelerates): The Minneapolis startup raised $30 million after 149% YoY revenue growth as it expands beyond traditional background checks. - [Minneapolis Startup Vertical Insure Secures Updata Partners Investment to Expand Embedded Insurance](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/minneapolis-startup-vertical-insure-secures-updata-partners-investment-to-expand-embedded-insurance): Vertical Insure raised new financing led by Updata Partners to expand its embedded insurance infrastructure for vertical SaaS platforms. - [Claros Technologies Raises $55 Million Series B](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/claros-technologies-raises-55-million-series-b): The Minnesota startup plans to expand manufacturing, laboratory services and global deployments of its PFAS destruction technology. - [How Entravia Raised $2.6M in its First Year](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/how-entravia-raised-2-6m-in-its-first-year): Behind the announcement: an MVP that Kasey Devine built himself, more than 60 investor conversations, and the one change to his pitch that brought in a lead investor. - [Apax bets on Inspectorio, the Minneapolis supply-chain platform ](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/apax-bets-on-inspectorio-the-minneapolis-supply-chain-platform): The company digitizes factory inspections that most brands still run on paper and email. A decade after its first Target pilot, it says more than 40,000 organizations use the platform. - [Minnesota Startup Refr Sports Raises $2M Seed Round to Scale Referee Management Platform](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/minnesota-startup-refr-sports-raises-2m-seed-round-to-scale-referee-management-platform): The company supports more than 20,000 users across 40 states and 15 sports - [HLRBO Raises $2.5 Million for Private Hunting Land Marketplace](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/hlrbo-raises-2-5-million-for-private-hunting-land-marketplace): St. Paul's Mairs & Power leads the raise as the hunting-access marketplace scales nationally. - [Mayo Clinic and Microsoft Partner to Build a Healthcare-Specific Frontier AI Model](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/mayo-clinic-and-microsoft-partner-to-build-a-healthcare-specific-frontier-ai-model): Minnesota nonprofit teams up with big tech to bring clinical AI to the world - [Fewer Deals, Bigger Checks: Minnesota Tracks the National Trend Without the AI Megarounds](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/fewer-deals-bigger-checks-minnesota-tracks-the-national-trend-without-the-ai-megarounds): Q1's record venture numbers were really one state. Here's what actually reached Minnesota. - [Jamf Names Beth Tschida CEO in Minneapolis Leadership Change](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/jamf-names-beth-tschida-ceo-in-minneapolis-leadership-change): Beth Tschida, Jamf’s former CTO and interim CEO, becomes the first woman to lead the Minneapolis Apple management and security company. - [PlayMetrics Acquires Minneapolis Based SportsEngine](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/playmetrics-acquires-minneapolis-based-sportsengine) - [Claros Technologies Demonstrates 99.99% PFAS Destruction on Lake Elmo Groundwater](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/claros-technologies-demonstrates-99-99-pfas-destruction-on-lake-elmo-groundwater) - [Onsetto Raises $9M Seed II Led by Canapi Ventures](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/onsetto-raises-9m-seed-ii-led-by-canapi-ventures) - [Med Device Dominates MN March Funding Activity](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/med-device-dominates-mn-march-funding-activity) - [Is Minnesota Capturing Its Slice of the AI Economy?](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/is-minnesota-capturing-its-slice-of-the-ai-economy) - [NativeX: A Startup’s Lasting Economic Impact to a Region](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/nativex-a-startups-lasting-economic-impact-to-a-region) - [Minnesota’s Economic Engine (2026): The Headquarters Advantage and the Next-Wave Challenge](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/minnesotas-economic-engine-2026-the-headquarters-advantage-and-the-next-wave-challenge) - [HaystackID Acquires eDiscovery AI to Expand GenAI Legal Workflows](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/haystackid-acquires-ediscovery-ai-to-expand-genai-legal-workflows) - [Eden Prairie’s Arctic Wolf Acquires Sevco Security to Expand Exposure Assessment on Aurora Platform](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/eden-prairies-arctic-wolf-acquires-sevco-security-to-expand-exposure-assessment-on-aurora-platform) - [Entravia Launches Infrastructure Platform Powering PEO & Broker Sales](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/entravia-launches-infrastructure-platform-powering-peo-broker-sales) - [Traction Capital Invests in Edina-Based Twyst to Support National Retail Expansion](https://www.nextinthenorth.com/p/traction-capital-invests-in-edina-based-twyst-to-support-national-retail-expansion)