Bennie alumna named a rising startup leader

Each year, Minne Inno recognizes a select group of people under age 25 who are already leaders in the Minnesota startup community. This year 11 were selected and Precious Drew, a 2018 graduate of the College of Saint Benedict (CSB) was among them. These are passionate young entrepreneurs and technologists with exceptionally bright futures.

Drew is the director of the gBETA Greater Minnesota St. Cloud accelerator through gener8tor – a nationally ranked accelerator with world-class partnerships and a proven track record for success in communities nationwide like Central Minnesota.

In October, the second gBETA Greater Minnesota cohort completed the seven-week accelerator program.

“This year, applications increased by nearly 50%, the cohort pitched 18 investors across four states, and mentors accepted 136 one-on-one meetings with the fall 2020 cohort,” Drew said. “Applications for the spring 2020 program are officially open and we will be accepting six startups from Greater Minnesota.”

In college, as an Entrepreneur Scholar in the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship at CSB and Saint John’s University, Drew co-founded Perk, a startup skin-care company. After college, before joining gener8tor, she served for nine months as a Finnovation Fellow, further developing her leadership capacity and entrepreneurial skills. In October, Drew recorded a TEDx Talk titled “Who Gets to be Called an ‘Entrepreneur’ and Why it Matters.”

“I am honored to be named one of Minne Inno’s Under 25,” Drew said. “Since graduating (from CSB), it’s been amazing to see the growing number of resources available to entrepreneurs here in Greater Minnesota. It’s been an even better experience collaborating with organizations to ensure our startups have the resources to launch, survive and thrive.”

Minne Inno is a resource for “covering, connecting and catalyzing the Twin Cities ecosystem, producing digital media, events and intelligence about entrepreneurs, executives, startups, businesses, trends and topics that are shaping the present and future” of Minnesota’s burgeoning startup and tech communities, according to their website. Minne Inno is affiliated with Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.