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 & […]
Smart Ag founder/CEO Colin Hurd joined this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneurs in manufacturing and industry across the U.S. and Canada. Hurd, who is 28, graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Agriculture and Business in 2013 and went on to develop AutoCart, an automated grain cart system that allows farmers to […]
The Ag Startup Engine’s seven initial agricultural startup companies have collectively raised more than $10 million in follow-on investments, the organization announced today. The seven portfolio companies within ASE at Iowa State University Research Park have also created more than 40 jobs since the initiative’s launch. Established in late 2016, the ASE began by looking […]
After two years of piloting in Iowa, FarmlandFinder will debut in 12 more Midwestern states this winter. “We’ve been starting to branch out and build relationships with those people, and showing them early access. We’ve got people that are testing that software right now,” Founder and CEO Steven Brockshus said. “The whole premise of FarmlandFinder […]
SwineTech: $1.5 million in the company’s second round, completed in June. Participating: AgVentures Alliance, Quake Capital and InnovaMemphis. The June round added eight additional full-time jobs to SwineTech, co-founder/CEO Matthew Rooda confirmed, adding that “a majority” of funding came from Iowa and Minnesota. SwineTech is planning an expansion through North America and into Canada, Rooda […]
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 […]
First launched in 2014, the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) is now partnering with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to promote sustainable agriculture technologies, Wells Fargo announced on Tuesday. The expansion will support technology developing and commercializing technology that reduce agriculture’s carbon, energy and water impact, said Mary Wenzel, head of Sustainability and Corporate […]
The National Science Foundation awarded a five-year, $2 million grant to researchers at Iowa State University who developed a new machine-learning and mathematical modeling to plant breeding and farm management practices. Researchers plan to focus on three areas: harnessing mathematical models to better predict traits of crops; genomic selection, or the decisions plant breeders make […]
TRACTOR ZOOM: Completed $1 million seed investment round. Participated: Innova Memphis, Ag Startup Engine, angel investors. Based in West Des Moines.
Ag Startup Engine has announced a second investment of $25,000 in FarmlandFinder, a search software that allows clients to buy, search for and sell agricultural land and property information, reports Clay & Milk. FarmlandFinder, formerly known as Terva, serves land owners and buyers in Iowa but will expand into 12 states by this winter, founder and […]