The Techstars Iowa Accelerator is welcoming 10 new companies to the 2021 cohort. Nearly all those in this year’s cohort founded their business amid the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns during 2020, said Kerty Levy, managing director of Techstars Iowa. “What that says is that they’re hopeful. They trust that they can create, they can make great […]

Seven international startup companies will join the first six-week Cultivo Virtual Academy, America’s Cultivation Corridor announced. The program is designed to provide participants with networking and mentorship among Iowa’s agricultural leaders and an online curriculum focused on U.S. market entry, regulatory and financing systems and customer perspectives. The program begins April 13. Participating companies are Australian […]

BrokerTech Ventures announced the addition of carrier Zurich North America to the BrokerTech platform and accelerator program this week. The addition of Zurich North America now brings BTV to 24 insurance brands nationally. BTV recently announced partnerships with InsurTech Israel and Ayalon Insurance Company to launch the Israeli InsurTech Accelerator internationally, and additional accelerator partnerships […]

The Iowa Go-to-Market (G2M) Accelerator announced the inaugural 2021 G2M cohort of five participating Iowa biotechnology startups. Cohort members are CartilaGen of Iowa City, Classroom Clinic of Carroll, FBB Biomed of Coralville, Mazen Animal Health of Ames and Sushi3D, also of Ames. The accelerator is supported by BioConnect Iowa, VentureNet Iowa and the Iowa State […]

John Deere announced four new companies to its 2021 Startup Collaborator program: Nori (developing a carbon market), NVision Ag (developing nitrogen management decisions), Scanit (offering detection and classification of airborne plant pathogens) and Teleo (converting construction and mining equipment into tele-operated robots). Launched in 2019, the yearlong program enables John Deere and selected startup companies […]

Bioconnect Iowa is debuting a new brand two years after shifting its mission toward the state’s biosciences, the organization formerly known as the Iowa Innovation Corp. announced this year. The change in name is just the start: Bioconnect Iowa partnered this year with Iowa State University’s Startup Factory and VentureNET Iowa to launch the Go-to-Market Accelerator in […]

BrokerTech Ventures is launching the first step in international expansion with a partnership between the BrokerTech Ventures U.S. Accelerator and the newly formed Israeli InsurTech Accelerator, based in Tel Aviv. The accelerator will use BrokerTech Venture’s accelerator program to help local Israeli insurtech supporters build its own regional accelerator, while developing a connecting bridge between Israeli […]

The Iowa State University Startup Factory and partners received a $525,427 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s 2020 Venture Challenge program to launch the Iowa Go-To-Market (G2M) program. EDA funding will support the G2M project team, comprising the Iowa Innovation Corp., ISU Startup Factory and VentureNet Iowa, the ISU Startup Factory announced this week. […]

Techstars Iowa announced the 10 international startups making up the accelerator’s inaugural class for 2020, including two Iowa startups: Deetz, a hyperlocal platform connecting users to local community deals and events, and Openloop, a health care platform connecting providers to job openings in hospitals and other facilities requiring extra staff assistance.  The inaugural class represents […]