About me
ConnectUP! Institute (CI) is a Black-led nonprofit social enterprise based in St. Paul and serves Minnesota. We operate at the intersection of entrepreneur development, ecosystem coordination, and capital innovation. Our mission: strengthen connections between underestimated founders, entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs), and sources of capital so businesses often excluded from conventional pathways move from invisible to investable.
CI was built in response to a structural market failure. Minnesota has no shortage of ESOs or capital institutions. What it lacks is a coherent, durable system that effectively connects the “Missing Middle” of founders—especially consumer packaged goods (CPG) and service-based businesses—to the stage-appropriate support and financing they need to grow. These founders are too advanced for startup programming, too undercapitalized for conventional debt, and too disconnected from investor networks to be seen by the impact investing ecosystem. The result is fragmentation, duplicated effort, founder attrition, and inefficient capital deployment.
CI built a different model. We’ve created founder-centered infrastructure that integrates capital readiness, executive coaching, ecosystem convening, and integrated capital strategies tailored to businesses that don't fit venture-backed assumptions. Through Rasmussen’s fellowships with Boston Impact Initiative and Just Economy Institute, she developed the framework that led to the creation of the Integrated Capital Fund, the first Black-woman-led fund in Minnesota. That fund was designed not as a standalone financing product, but as a practical bridge between entrepreneur support and inclusive capital deployment.
CI also brings direct experience in strategic consolidation. In 2023, CI acquired Lunar Startups and integrated its programming. In 2025, CI acquired Led by TRUTH, preserving culturally responsive support for 40 entrepreneurs of color who would otherwise have lost access to resources. Additional Minnesota ESOs have approached CI about absorbing programs, aligning services, or reducing duplication. This has positioned CI as a service provider and an emerging ecosystem integrator during a period of contraction and financial strain across the field.
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