The West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce has announced seven finalists for the 2024 pitch competition at the fourth annual Athene Black & Brown Business Summit. An eighth finalist will be randomly selected on the day of the event on April 18. The finalists were chosen from a pool of over 100 applicants from across […]
The 2024 John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition application portal is now open. The 19th annual statewide competition will award $100,000 in cash prizes to early-stage Iowa startups and entrepreneurial ventures that intend to scale operations in Iowa. The $100,000 in seed funding includes a $50,000 contribution from the late John Pappajohn, matched by $50,000 from […]
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 […]
WOI-TV: Like the old saying goes: to whom much is given, much is expected. For two well-known entrepreneurs in Des Moines, Rod Johnson and Pernell Cezar, they haven’t shied away from that. Since 2018, when they founded BLK & Bold, the company has grown into the largest Black-owned coffee brand in America. But the heart […]
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 […]
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 […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development is awarding Rural Business Development grants to four organizations across Iowa as part of a more than $29 million round of grants announced Feb. 20. The organizations that received business development grants are:
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 […]
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development agency is investing $1,213,603 in 13 grants and $43,957,700 in five loans to projects in Iowa that promote rural small businesses, provide technical assistance and support public works infrastructure. Greene County Development Corp. received a $95,703 Rural Business Development Grant to provide technical assistance to emerging businesses in Greene […]