Passion may fuel social entrepreneurs in Minnesota, but they need to have business acumen too.
“We call them unlikely entrepreneurs, meaning they are tied emotionally and personally to their mission, so it’s sometimes hard to get them to understand the business side of it,” said Dr. La Juana Whitmore, executive director of the Finnovation Institute
Based in Minneapolis, the Finnovation Institute empowers and supports impact-driven social entrepreneurs as they launch, lead, and scale sustainable businesses, like those that tackle issues of racial inequality, healthcare disparities, and environmental sustainability.
The Finnovation Institute is currently accepting applications for its 2026/2027 fellowship. The deadline to apply is June 1.
The Institute’s fellowship program is broken into two parts: the discovery phase, which lasts 3 months and is open to 18 qualified entrepreneurs who receive guidance on taking their dream to reality with rigorous training on leadership, business planning, customer input, and more. The first phase requires about 20 hours a week from participants, and there is no stipend.
Only 9 entrepreneurs move on to the second phase, the fellows module, which lasts for 6 months, requires full-time work, about 35 hours a week, and comes with a $50,000 stipend and valuable expert advice. “We bring in university professors, consultants, and coaches, in addition to experts in their fields,” Whitmore explained.
After finishing the first phase of the program this year, Caroline Hegstrom, founder of Taiga Farm & Seed, based near Duluth, remembers waiting to hear if she made the second phase. “I think I held my breath for 2 weeks. I didn’t breathe.”
Hegstrom is a certified organic farmer whose experience motivated her to create a company that gives northern gardeners two things: seeds bred for the north and the technology and knowledge to grow them. “Farmers in zones 3 and 4 experience 40% loss in what they grow, which equates to almost $400,000 lost food.”
Hegstrom was among the nine entrepreneurs chosen for the second module and says the most valuable piece wasn’t the $50,000. “To be honest, I wasn’t really looking at the money,” Hegstrom recalled. “I was more excited for the content and the learning, because I knew that knowledge would be with me forever.”
Hegstrom said she went into the fellowship with one path for her business and after 9 months, she is leaving with a completely different model. “I came in thinking I would be a seed company and now I’m a tech company, that just happens to sell seeds,” explained Hegstrom.
At the Finnovation Institute, pivoting is praised. “We always say if you leave this first part of this fellowship with the same business you came in with, something went really, really wrong,” Whitmore added.
She said about 46% of entrepreneurs who have been through the Finnovation Fellowship are still in business today. Members of the cohort act like family, hugging when they see each other. It’s a testament to the value of collaboration and the battle to build a business when you admit that you don’t know it all.
“Finnovation never tries to be the hero in my story, they’re the guide,” Hegstrom said. Though she admitted the program and Whitmore’s guidance in particular were powerful seeds already starting to grow.
“She’s the Obi-Wan to my Luke,” Hegstrom added.
To learn more about Finnovation Institute’s 2026/2027 fellowship program, please go here. Applications are due by June 1.
