NIACC Pappajohn Center now accepting applications for fall 2021 venture school

The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center in Mason City is accepting applications for the fall 2021 cohort of the University of Iowa’s Venture School. Participating teams will each be assigned a local entrepreneur to be their coach throughout the course and win cash awards at EntreFEST 2022. An in-person orientation…

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Applications open statewide for John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition

Applications for the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Venture Competition are now open. The statewide competition will award $100,000 in cash prizes, including a first place award of $40,000. Iowa businesses that have been in operation for four years or less, or are not yet cash flow positive are eligible to apply….

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Registration still open for Girls Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by Pi515, University of Iowa John Pappajohn Center of Entrepreneurship

Jade Nettrour is a senior in high school and has already designed an early prototype of new Christmas tree lights to make the annual decorating process easier — and more cat-friendly — for her family and their five felines. Nettrour’s demonstration earned her second place in a student “Shark Tank”…

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Pappajohn gift of $100,000, JPEC partnership lay bright path for Pi515

Iowa founder Nancy Mwirotsi and philanthropist John Pappajohn. Pappajohn committed $100,000 and support from staff at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center network to help Mwirotsi expand the 6-year-old tech education nonprofit Pi515 in Iowa.  Contributed photo Early this fall, Des Moines founder Nancy Mwirotsi was surprised to take a call…

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ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship named top finalist in Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers award

The Iowa State University John Pappajohn Entrepreneurship Center was named one of five finalists in the Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation award category by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC), a worldwide academic association of entrepreneurship educators. The award is given to honor a center that creatively supports the…

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Venture School begins with new partnerships, opens applications

The University of Iowa’s Venture School, developed by the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC), is expanding to Mason City, Cedar Falls, Iowa City and Des Moines next month, the Venture School announced this week. JPEC centers at the Northern Iowa Area Community College, the University of Northern Iowa, Drake…

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John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition accepting applications

Applications for the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Venture Competition are now being accepted as the organization prepares to award $100,000 in cash prizes during its 15th year, the organization announced Wednesday. The seed funding consists of a $50,000 contribution from John and Mary Pappajohn, and a $50,000 match from the Iowa…

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Rantizo awarded $40,000 at John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Venture Awards Luncheon

Since launching an annual venture capital contest in 2006, Des Moines entrepreneur and venture capitalist John Pappajohn has been “happy to be the giver of money” to support entrepreneurs in the state, Pappajohn told the small crowd on Drake University’s campus over lunch on Thursday. All 12 of the small…

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CYstarters debut final pitch by 15 student/graduate businesses

A powdered shampoo (Powdu). An after-school chess club and traveling team (Chess Utopia). An online platform designed to simplify the resume-building experience for rising college students (CourseLink). And a comic book-framing shop that pivoted to quality prop replication for international customers (Comic Sandwiches).  Students and graduates of Iowa State University…

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