TCSW ’26Twin Cities
Startup Week
View of the Twin Cities under a wide cloudy sky — Saint Paul downtown in the foreground with the distant Minneapolis skyline across the river.

Twin Cities 26

The city is the venue. The calendar is open.

Saint Paul
Minneapolis

Twin Cities
Startup Week

13 Years
of building together

1st edition

The Beginning

Founded by Reed Robinson and Nels Pedersen as an intentionally intimate, community-driven week — around 15 tech-focused events, no corporate sponsors, built by five founding partners.

2nd edition

Finding Form

The week began expanding beyond purely tech, adding its earliest tracks. Little of this year survives in the public record — the work continued between the milestones.

3rd edition

Quiet Growth

A steady growth phase as more local partners began participating and the first industry tracks took shape. Sparse public documentation survives from this year.

4th edition · October

Going Citywide

A true multi-day, multi-venue week across Minneapolis and Saint Paul, opening at Able Seedhouse with dozens of host venues.

5th edition · Oct 8–14, 2018

Bigger Than Ever

Roughly double the prior year — 200+ events drawing more than 12,000 attendees. Added co-located conferences and citywide logistics: a mobile app, a Lyft shuttle between cities, and a fly-in program.

6th edition · Oct 9–16, 2019

The Corporate Era

TCSW landed its first Fortune 500 title sponsors and reached peak in-person scale — 200+ events and 17,000+ attendees — with events grouped geographically and mother's rooms at city hubs.

7th edition · September

Going Virtual

A sweeping virtual edition on Hopin during the pandemic — 200+ sessions spread across three weeks to beat digital fatigue, every one recorded, capped by an in-person closing in Saint Paul.

8th edition

Hybrid Return

A hybrid comeback — roughly 200 events split across virtual, hybrid, and in-person — that drew nearly 17,000 attendees, the highest in-person turnout on record.

9th edition

Back In Person

A return to a primarily in-person week as TCSW rebuilt toward pre-COVID scale. Little dedicated recap from this year survives in the public record.

10th edition · Sept 15–21, 2023

Zero to Global

The tenth anniversary, themed “Zero to Global,” centered on the Luminary Arts Center with 200+ events and a heavy AI and venture-capital program.

11th edition

Steady State

The week continued in person under BETA. Very little dedicated recap from this year survives in the public record.

12th edition · Oct 6–10, 2025

By the Community

Co-hosted with Communiful under the banner “by the community, for the community,” and Angela Eifert's first year leading BETA as Executive Director. Anchored by the MN Cup Grand Finale and a BETA × gener8tor showcase.

13th edition · Sept 14–18, 2026

Five Days, Six Campuses

Minnesota's largest convergence of innovation, investors, and founders — five themed days across six campuses, with the official calendar open to hosts.

We want you to

Meet

Founders, students, builders, funders, and communities shaping what comes next across the Twin Cities.

Five days. One ecosystem. Built by the Twin Cities.

We want you to

Host

Startup Week is built around hosts who host a conversation, launch something, open their doors, bring people together, and put their event on the official calendar across the Twin Cities.