When introducing the keynote speaker at the Iowa Tech Summit Tuesday morning, Paul Hlivko, chief technology officer at Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, jokingly warned the audience to turn off any devices they wanted to keep control over. Charlie Miller waved it off: “I’m not good enough to hack and give a speech at the […]

Dave Nelson wasn’t going to let his audience sit quietly. Despite leading a session at the Iowa Technology Summit on Tuesday, Nelson, president and CEO at information security firm Pratum, opened dialogue with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It was a short lesson on constitutional rights that would fit right in at the […]

The Greater Des Moines Partnership received a Silver Excellence in Economic Development Award for the Global Insurance Accelerator in the category of Multi Year Economic Development from the International Economic Development Council on Tuesday in Atlanta, Ga. The Global Insurance Accelerator is a mentor-driven business accelerator designed to foster innovation by supporting startups. Four classes […]

Researchers at Iowa State University are turning to wax made from soybean oil as a potential biodegradable alternative to standard industrial paraffin wax, ISU reports. If successful, the product could reduce waste from the nearly 3 billion pounds of paraffin-coated boxes that end up in landfills every year. Lead researcher Tong Wang and her team […]

The Iowa Economic Development Authority has granted a $200,000 grant to Fairfield-based Ideal Energy for two projects to study storing wind energy in batteries, the Energy News Network reported. The Fairfield firm will pass information along to Iowa State University for analysis. “We think there is much potential in this state for storage applications,” said […]

Governor Kim Reynolds presented the Iowa Award posthumously to Intel co-founder Dr. Robert N. Noyce at Grinnell College on Friday. Noyce’s grandson, Michael Noyce Merino, accepted the award, which is the state’s highest citizen honor, according to a release by Reynolds. Noyce grew up in Grinnell and graduated from Grinnell College, before receiving a doctorate […]

The newborn training medical staff at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids will cry and squirm like any other. It will also change color to indicate blood and air flow – one of the small reminders separating the neonatal robot training baby from a live, high-risk birth. The robotic newborn is a new tool […]

The Angel Capital Association has announced investment in nine regional startups who recently presented in Des Moines at the annual Best of Midwest Conference, hosted by local investment group Plains Angels. Hosted by the Greater Des Moines Partnership and BrownWinick Law Firm, the event hosted 140 attendees, including 90 accredited investors. Des Moines companies Pitchly […]

IDx: Secured $33 million in venture capital funding. Participated: 8VC, Optum Ventures, Alpha Edison and Heritage Provider Network. Based in Coralville. Meet FUNDED LATELY: Our peek into the awards/investment circle for Iowa’s promising startups. Do you know someone who should be featured here? Send an email to katehayden@bpcdm.com with the startup name, amount, contact information, and the contact […]

Brian Hemesath, managing director at the Global Insurance Accelerator Four years after its launch, the Global Insurance Accelerator is kicking off a search for the program’s second managing director after Brian Hemesath announced plans to step down in 2019. Hemesath has committed to stay with the GIA through the 2019 cohort as a new managing […]