In his 50th year as a venture capitalist, Pappajohn is still ahead of the pack John Pappajohn has invested in innovation from the very beginning of his career as a venture capitalist, and he prides himself on keeping himself — and his investment network — on the leading edge of…
CEO and founder, Denim In 2015, Gregory Bailey – like many entrepreneurs – struck out and launched a startup from his Urbandale home. He had spent more than two decades in the corporate insurance world, including holding executive positions at Athene USA and Pacific Life. Now, his startup, Denim, operates…
Des Moines-based LenderClose, a web-based underwriting and lending assistant platform, has integrated the e-recording platform Simplifile, which functions as an electronic liaison between lenders and country recording offices, LenderClose announced this week. Simplifile claims to have deployed its platform in 50% of all U.S. recording jurisdictions, with a goal to…
Adrienne Greenwald, current director of communications and public relations at VentureNet Iowa, will succeed John LaMarche as managing principal effective July 1, VentureNet Iowa announced Wednesday. Greenwald will lead the VentureNet team as it administers the state of Iowa’s Innovative Funding programs for small business. She joined VentureNet in 2012…
Steve Shriver, co-owner at SOKO Outfitters of Cedar Rapids (right), climbs during a startup pitch session with founders during the 2019 EntreFEST. Photo contributed/Andrew Ravera, NewBoCo One of the most original pitching opportunities open to participants at EntreFEST 2019 was born over pre-event beers. Steve Shriver, co-owner at SOKO Outfitters…
Five agtech startups have been selected to the 2019 cohort of the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator, the accelerator announced this week. The program will run from June 3 to Aug. 30 in the East Village, with final Demonstration Day pitches during the World Food Prize in October. Participants are Otrafy (Vancouver, Canada);…
Nurx, a San Francisco-based telemedicine startup offering birth control online, plans to launch in Iowa — after a recent report alleging company practices have put patients at risk through the handling of medication ordered in the app. Nurx (pronounced nur-ex) sells prescription drugs online, including birth control, HIV PrEP, HPV…
San Francisco-based HarvestPort, an early-stage agtech company developing a marketplace platform for farmers and supplies, is opening new offices in Des Moines, the company announced. HarvestPort has also hired Tyler Horbach, founder of agtech startup the FarmElement, as Grower Solutions Manager. Horbach previously founded the FarmElement in Jefferson, Iowa in…
Only 4% of bank business and IT executives believe that the impact of technology on the pace of banking change has stayed the same over the past three years, while 96% said it has either significantly accelerated or accelerated, according to a new report from Accenture. This technological disruption has a…
Fifteen student entrepreneurs are joining the 2019 CYstarters cohort, an 11-week intensive program managed by the Iowa State Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship. Businesses in the cohort are: AI for Microscopy, Camp Aramoni, CattleTech, Chess Utopia, Comic Sandwiches, Courselink, Flourish, Iowa Virtual Reality Labs, Jensen Applied Sciences, One Hop Shop, Pink Panda,…
As part of a refresh of the Business Record’s Innovation Iowa brand, we have created a new landing page on the Business Record website to house all Innovation Iowa coverage and more stories from the Business Record covering innovation and technology.
Visit www.businessrecord.com/innovation-iowa to view all Innovation Iowa stories, including the 2026 Innovation Iowa Magazine, out now.
-Sarah Diehn, Business Record Editor