Vice President Jack Chimbetete shares about the organization’s third African Business Fair When Jack Chimbetete first came to Iowa in 2018 as a participant in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the then-newly formed nonprofit One Voice DSM welcomed him and the other fellows with a ceremony and a reminder of home. “Because we had been […]

Several events this spring will focus on helping startups learn what they need to raise capital for their business. The Greater Des Moines Partnership is holding the one-day Raising Capital for Startups event on April 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is designed to help startup founders learn about what options they have when looking […]

GW Nutrition, led by President Anita Norian and Research and Development Director Laura Wonderling, received $10,000 for placing first in the Iowa Biotech Showcase, a pitch competition held during the Iowa Biotechnology Association’s Iowa Biotech Showcase and Conference in February. GW Nutrition will use the funding to advance its CleanSense technology, which uses a propriety […]

Five North High School students, under the name Team Frostbyte, have been selected as one of five finalists in the NASA App Development Challenge. The team will travel to the Johnson Space Center in Houston in April to give their presentation in person. The members of Team Frostbyte are Champ-Pacifique Mukiza, Sujal Pokhrel, Jefrey Allen, Moss […]

The Iowa Biotechnology Association (IowaBio) has announced Dr. Frances Johnson, chief innovation officer of Perspective Therapeutics, and Anthony Kinney, research director at Corteva Agriscience, as the recipients of the 2024 Iowa Biotech Leader Award. The awards were presented to Johnson and Kinney during IowaBio’s Iowa Biotech Showcase and Conference on Feb. 28. Johnson, a physician, […]

The Iowa Board of Regents approved a new undergraduate major in entrepreneurship at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business during its Feb. 28 meeting. The major will be offered starting in the fall 2024 semester. The program will be interdisciplinary and offer tracks in entrepreneurial finance, technology entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial leadership and new ventures. […]

Gravitate Coworking founder Geoff Wood reflects on a decade in business Many in Des Moines and Iowa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will know of Gravitate Coworking and its founder Geoff Wood. But to understand how it started 10 years ago requires stepping back to some key developments in the early days of Des Moines’ startup community. Although short-lived, StartupCity […]

Ag Startup Engine, an Ames-based program that offers seed investment and investor connections to early-stage agriculture startups, announced Feb. 21 it has added Indianapolis, Ind.-based Croft to its portfolio companies. According to a news release, Croft has developed an online Agribusiness Workforce Platform to help address challenges around seasonal labor, worker productivity and farm operations optimization. Croft founders Scott […]