In the seventh year of the Business Record’s annual Leaders Survey, the Business Record asked local leaders whether they believe Central Iowa businesses had adequate access to venture capital. It’s a snapshot of our wider concerns – the survey, released in print and in daily e-newsletter snapshots, checks the pulse…
Wireless communications company Electronic Engineering announced a donation of $20,000 in communications equipment and a work-study/tuition assistance program for students at Des Moines Area Community College with interest in electronic engineering, radio communications and robotics specializations. The work-study program will provide on-the-job experience for students with compensation for work, and…
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…
Dwolla, a Des Moines-based digital payment platform, is expanding its second Monetery summit to two days this May, the company announced on Wednesday. The 2019 summit will be held May 21-22 at the Temple for Performing Arts. Last year’s event was limited to 200 attendees, and this year’s will be…
High-growth companies that missed the Nov. 2 deadline can still apply to present at the 2019 InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum in Kansas City. Midwestern companies interested in pitching to investors at the forum, held March 19-20 at the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center, can submit applications until Jan. 4,…
The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust has committed $12 million to fund research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa College of Engineering, reports the Corridor Business Journal. The grant brings the Carver Charitable Trust’s total giving toward the UI department to $15 million; pending approval…
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…
In early 2017, Des Moines investment professionals David Miles and Matthew Kinley partnered to launch ManchesterStory Group. The new venture capital firm has established a foothold with initial investments in the insurance technology sector, along with an eye on promising financial technology and health care technology startups. In less than…
Rantizo, Inc.: $500,000, completed in October. Based in Iowa City. Participating: Innova Memphis (Memphis, Tennessee).
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…