Des Moines elementary students can learn to build coding skills with Google experts on Friday during the CS First Roadshow, an hour-long presentation with remarks by U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne at Edmunds Elementary School. The CS First Roadshow offers up to 90 minutes of themed computer science projects in six categories – storytelling, arts, game […]

Three years after founding, MākuSafe, a technology wearables company focused on workplace safety, closed on a $2.85 million seed round in December. It launches what staff promises to be a busy year for the wearable safety device company: five pilot testing programs have finished or are underway, with 120 industrial workers currently trying out the […]

How do we get young girls into tech? New research by the Girl Scout Research Institute shows that girls might already be there – adults just aren’t very good at listening to them. The results, reported by the New York Times, show that girls are more likely than boys to actively use tech to learn […]

N-Sense LLC, a cohort member of the Iowa State University Startup Factory, has been awarded a $225,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to conduct research and development work on development a field mobile soil nitrate sensor for precision fertilizer management, Startup Factory announced Wednesday. N-Sense’s system, developed by […]

Two Iowa businesswomen will accept entrepreneurial awards by America’s SBDC Iowa later this month for their leadership as Small Business Development Center clients. Sara Winkleman, founder/owner of S&B Farmstead Distillery, is the 2019 Deb Dalziel Woman Entrepreneur Achievement Award winner, and Staci Ackerson, owner of Shankland Insurance, is the 2019 Neal Smith Entrepreneur of the […]

IDx-DR, an artificial intelligence system that detects diabetic retinopathy, is expanding to new healthcare settings since the FDA first cleared the AI system to go to market in April 2018, startup IDx of Coralville reports. IDx-DR is now in use in clinics focusing on endocrinology, internal medicine, diabetes education, community health, diagnostics labs and diabetes […]

The Iowa Democratic Party is taking public comments after proposing a new caucus plan that would offer virtual caucuses for registered Democrats, starting during the 2020 Iowa caucuses. The proposal, outlined in the 2020 Iowa Delegate Selection Plan, would allow registered Democrats to participate in one of six virtual caucuses “by phone or smart device,” […]

The Des Moines-based Global Insurance Accelerator has hired Nicole Cook as the next managing director, to take over full time after current director Brian Hemesath steps down from his role on May 1, following the conclusion of the 2019 cohort. Cook begins with the GIA today and will work along with Hemesath and program manager […]

Dwolla CEO/founder Ben Milne cuts the ribbon as the company unveils new headquarters at 909 Locust. Photo provided For all the celebrated focus on “being different,” there was one tradition Dwolla was willing to hang on to when debuting the new office on Wednesday evening: A ribbon-cutting. “It feels fantastic,” Head of Marketing Stephanie Atkin […]

Calling all Disney Pixar fans – this one’s for you. “Purl,” created by Pixar’s SparkShorts Artists Projects division, explores what happens when a young, enthusiastic ball of yarn finds she doesn’t fit into her new high-powered, male-centric workplace. “You’re being too soft. We gotta be aggressive!” a B.R.O. team member tells Purl early on. Purl […]