NASA Mashup Lab

I recently needed a moment of inspiration, truly. And I experienced one. I attended a special event at the Science Museum, a NASA Inclusive Innovation Mashup Cohort Finale Event. This Mashup Lab, powered by Brown Venture Group, is a lean startup commercialization bootcamp. Its goal? Within a consortium construct, to empower entrepreneurs to bring innovative ideas to market. I found this special for a couple of reasons. First, this Mashup Lab is designed specifically to increase participation of targeted underrepresented contributors.  Second, Brown Venture Group and NASA together are collaborating to establish this ecosystem with Fortune 500 companies and  research universities. And third, it is happening right here in the Greater MSP region.   
 
So I attended the Finale Event, a graduation of sorts. At this event were innovators, commercialization experts from the U of M, NASA representatives, and Minnesota leaders. Among them: DEED Commissioner Varilek, Ramsey County Commissioner Martinson, Mayor Carter. Commissioner Varilek talked about the work of this Mashup Lab as an opportunity driven by Paul Brown, “an evangelist for tech transfer and federal/state collaboration in this space.” Commissioner Varilek also reminded us that Minnesota has both a track record and a bright future in terms of begin the home of innovation. He spoke of the current environment in which this Mashup Lab has come to be. Through the CHIPS Act, 31 inaugural “Tech Hub” cities have been identified; Greater MSP is one such region. In May, Polar Semiconductor announced its expanded semiconductor operations, that include $120M federal, $475M state, and $300M Polar investments.
 
NASA’s representative Harvey Schabes talked about their engagement across the country, encouraging and reaching out to regions like ours: “We tripped across the Twin Cities. Brown Venture Group did the work, and Mayor Carter supported the initiative. NASA wants to take it to the next level, in the form of this first of its kind mashup lab.”
 
And Mayor Carter reminded us that “this is an opportunity to introduce and sell this city and region to the global marketplace.”
 
It all started more than a year ago with one man, one idea, one day. That’s how revolution happens!
 
See you in the trenches,

​B