Gross-Wen Technologies Inc., which commercializes an algal wastewater treatment developed at Iowa State University, accepted a $2 million investment from engineering firm Doerfer Corporation, GWT announced on Wednesday. The company expects to hire up to four more positions with the funds, including a vice president of operations, and sales and operations staff. GWT developed the […]
Iowa billionaire Harry Stine, founder of Stine Seed Co., announced an investment of $5 million into an Ames startup focusing on driverless tractors, the Des Moines Register reports. Founded by 28-year-old Colin Hurd, Smart Ag aims to solve critical labor shortages in agriculture with a software system that automates tractors used during the harvest. Smart […]
Inside the Varied Industries Building this week at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, visitors will find hundreds of exhibitors showcasing the latest in pork production – including FarrPro founder and CEO Amos Petersen. FarrPro is preparing to manufacture 300 units of its piglet-saving farrowing technology and enter the commercial market in a year. “I think we’ll […]
BUZZFEED NEWS: A Sydney man is appealing the court’s decision after he was convicted of traveling without a valid train ticket. Biohacker and real person Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow, 33, was fined in August 2017 for boarding a train without a ticket. Except he’d already paid, Meow-Meow argued: four months earlier, Meow-Meow had a travel […]
University of Iowa startup Verdlilife has won $50,000 after demonstrating a new agricultural cleaning process, the Corridor Business Journal reports. Mahdi Eghbali, Ph.D. candidate in economics at UI, was awarded for his pitch at the MegaWatt Ventures competition this month. Verdilife uses a proprietary process known as the Nano-Intelligent Smokeless Bio-Char System to transform wood […]
When you open your refrigerator, there’s a very good chance that every food product you see in it has been tested by a company you may have never heard of — Eurofins. Eurofins Scientific Inc., one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies, has based its North American headquarters in Des Moines since 2006, when it moved its […]
By the end of May, the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator welcomes six new startups fresh on the agriculture field to Des Moines. Each of those startups selected to participate receives $40,000 in seed funding, subsidized housing throughout the 94 days, and time to build mentorships, partnerships and a broader agritech network in Iowa, Executive Director Megan […]
Co-founder and CEO Arsalan Lodhi likes to compare agtech startup Wisran to public utilities metering. Without water or gas meters, Lodhi said, communities would have no way to track the waste of resources incurred by residents, and costs would look much different. “The same concept and principles we are bringing to farming operations,” Lodhi said, […]
Highway Equipment company of Cedar Rapids has become the first Platinum Harvester Sponsor for the Ag Startup Engine at Iowa State University. The Ag Startup Engine effort was launched two years ago to help with seed-stage investment and organized mentorship. “Now more than ever, we need entrepreneurs and innovators in the agricultural industry,” said Rocki […]
Buckle up: 2025 is only seven years away. Last week Aaron Proietti, founder of Adaptivity Enterprises and a self-proclaimed futurist, offered EntreFEST conference attendees in Cedar Rapids several thoughtful predictions of what to expect from the world in less than 10 years. “The technologies that I’ve shown here are not inherently good or evil, but […]