Research Dossier¶
12 years of the Midwest's largest startup festival, synthesized¶
OSINT research on Twin Cities Startup Week — its operator, sponsors, investors, programming, speakers, and media. This is the front door. The signal lives here; the full archive is linked throughout.
TCSW 2026 · September 14–18 · Six campuses
By the numbers¶
13
Years (2014–2026)
625
Speakers catalogued
398
Sessions archived
200+
Events at peak
~19K
Peak attendance
$17M
Venture $ accessed (2022)
53
Organizations tracked
303
Archived videos
At a glance
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject | Twin Cities Startup Week (TCSW) |
| Operator | The Beta Group (BETA) — 501(c)(3) nonprofit |
| Coverage | 2014–2025 (12 completed years) + 2026 plan |
| Method | Web search, URL extraction, sched.com archives, recap PDFs, public records |
| Compiled | June 2026 |
Snapshot¶
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 (1st annual) |
| Operator | The Beta Group (BETA), founded 2013 by Reed Robinson, Ryan Broshar, Justin Cox |
| 2025 co-host | Communiful (Hayley Brooks) |
| Peak attendance | ~19,000 (2020, virtual) / ~17,000 (2019, 2021) |
| 2025 attendance | 1,000+ (deliberate lean reset) |
| Peak events | 200+ per year (2018–2023) |
| Format | Community-driven unconference, multi-venue Minneapolis + St. Paul |
| 2026 dates | September 14–18, 2026 — five days, six campuses |
| Website | tcstartupweek.com |
| Contact | Angela.Eifert@BETA.MN |
Read this site¶
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| History | The 12-year growth arc and year-by-year detail |
| 2026 Plan | Dates, six campuses, themed days, sponsor activations |
| Organization & Leadership | BETA, leadership transitions, board |
| Sponsors | Sponsor history and 2026 re-engagement targets |
| Capital Ecosystem | Active MN VCs and MN Cup economics |
| Programming | Signature and recurring events |
| Sessions | Searchable archive of 398 catalogued sessions |
| People & Speakers | 625 catalogued speakers and the most active voices |
| Directory | All tracked organizations, sponsors, and venues |
| Strategy | SWOT, positioning, marketing-ready quotes |
| Media & Social | Coverage map and social footprint |
| Data & Sources | Machine-readable datasets and sourcing |
Why this exists¶
TCSW 2026 is a rebuild year. Sponsorship, programming, and partnership decisions all depend on a clear read of what the event was, who funded it, and what worked. This dossier turns 12 years of scattered public record into one navigable reference.