The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator received first place in the 2018 Entrepreneurial Awards, hosted by the Mid-America Economic Development Council. The accelerator, launched in 2016 by the Greater Des Moines Partnership and Cultivation Corridor, came in first for communities with a population over 50,000 and accepted the award during the Dec. 2-4 Mid-America Competitiveness Conference & […]
Applications are now open to Iowa State University students or recent graduates for CYstarters, a 10-week summer accelerator assisting participants with their startup or business idea. Selected students will receive $6,500 for an individual or up to $13,000 per student team to spend the 2019 summer pursuing their business model from May 20 to Aug. […]
Craig Ibsen, managing principal at Next Level Ventures, and Stephanie Atkin, vice president of marketing at Dwolla, at Thursday’s Power Breakfast: Innovation Acceleration. Des Moines talks a big game about Iowa being an innovation state, but at Thursday morning’s Business Record Power Breakfast, one audience member wondered: is this true in rural communities? Fair question, […]
If the Kauffman Foundation’s 1 Million Cups initiative is “church for entrepreneurs,” Des Moines entrepreneur Ben McDougal is preaching the gospel – and his congregation is getting bigger. After leading the Des Moines chapter for five years – the second 1MC chapter in the country after Kansas City – McDougal is stepping back locally in […]
The Iowa Economic Development Authority approved a $250,000 grant for a Digital Manufacturing Deployment Facility project at Iowa State University. The funding will help ISU/CIRAS address the current gap in small- and medium-sized manufacturing companies adopting new automation technology. The flexible facility ISU plans to build and staff will offer Iowa manufacturing companies the opportunity […]
The Dallas Morning News released what Jeff Bezos probably would have written to the losing cities in the saga of choosing Amazon’s H2Q (“initials+numbers = very hip/very now”) location, had he not been busy doing, uh, something else. “We can’t attest to its provenance. We doubt Amazon would confirm it. Nor will we even deny […]
Bravo Greater Des Moines and the Des Moines Arts Festival are launching the Creative Economy Initiative, an action plan for professional development and the building of businesses for regional artists. Artist and business strategist Chris Dahlquist will work on a feasibility study and action plan for how to advance creative economy objectives in the region […]
The Iowa Innovation Corp. has hired Jim Register as president and CEO to lead IICorp as the entity transitions into a new Iowa biosciences development center, reports the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Register will bring together partners from research institutions, global companies, entrepreneurs, investors and government to accelerate growth in the bioscience industries in Iowa, the […]
Established in 2003, the state’s venture capital initiative “Iowa Fund of Funds” is slowly winding down after the Iowa Executive Council voted 4-0 to dissociate the fund with its governing entities, reports the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The program, which was managed under the private, not-for-profit Iowa Capital Investment Corp. and a state Capital Investment Board, is […]
Rantizo, Inc.: $500,000, completed in October. Based in Iowa City. Participating: Innova Memphis (Memphis, Tennessee).