Our Story
From the lab to The Toaster
Piocent Labs emerged from the University of Minnesota Department of History and the Liberal Arts Engagement Hub. Steven Miller co-founded Piocent with two other UMN students after Steven's academic research revealed significant gaps in commercial historical data. This highlighted the need for tailored and innovative corporate history solutions. With co-founders Steven, Jared, and Luke, Piocent was launched to bridge this gap, leveraging the founders' expertise and drive to provide innovative historical research services. Like the best classics, Piocent chronicles the story of an organization's history over time.
The name was a nod to the UMN dorms where the team lived as undergraduate students: Pioneer Hall and Centennial Hall. The startup quickly got the attention of the University community and expanded from the lab to The Toaster, a startup community for students in the basement of Walter Library at University of Minnesota. The Toaster is a joint partnership with the UMN Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship and Carlson School of Management. While at The Toaster, Piocent has had the opportunity to collaborate with other innovative teams. In March 2023, Piocent Labs Inc. was officially born.
The mission of Piocent Labs is to "be innovative, have fun, promote history, keep learning." This is a mission which we will relentlessly pursue—from the lab, to The Toaster, and beyond.
Tour of piocent
The Toaster in Legos
In order to make our first office location memorable, our team decided to perfect a Lego model. You can see the dark blond guy in the center, who presumably is Steven. This is The Toaster, the startup hub at University of Minnesota where Piocent launched in 2023.