The Greater Des Moines Partnership and digital publication Clay & Milk announced Monday they are partnering to offer the Iowa Innovation Dashboard, which will launch in spring 2022. The dashboard is designed to be “a comprehensive indicator of entrepreneurial activity in the state of Iowa” and will track several metrics, including startup growth, external funding, success of accelerator programs and team diversity. “When people ask how Iowa’s startup climate is doing, we typically go to the latest piece of news we’ve consumed. While it’s important to tell the stories of startups through journalism, we want to add another layer of information by creating a snapshot of the Iowa entrepreneurial community through data visualization and metrics,” Diana Wright, startup community builder at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, said in a release. “By capturing data around emerging technology startups, champions and entrepreneurs within our communities will be able to tell a more powerful story together. As a result, we can invite people to come together to solve for any current gaps that exist in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and set goals for the long-term.” Paired with the dashboard is the Iowa Founder Survey, which goes in-depth on topics like the fundraising climate and challenges of operating a startup. The survey opened to Iowa startup founders Tuesday and closes Feb. 18.
