Kris Johansen, manager of industry engagement in the Office of Economic Development and Industry Relations (EDIR) and Iowa State University Startup Factory COO, has officially resigned from both posts to join the National Institute of Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education (NIAMRRE). Johansen will join as director of external relations at NIAMRRE, which is hosted at […]

FarmHand App, a member of cohort eight from the Iowa State University Startup Factory, has been awarded a $25,000 Proof of Commercial Relevance loan from the Iowa Economic Development Authority board for product refinement, market planning and entry activities and other expenses, Startup Factory announced. FarmHand App, launched in 2019, is a De Witt-based startup […]

Iowa State University’s Startup Factory has moved all weekly cohort meetings online to continue delivering the 52-week program, the organization announced this week. The accelerator has extended its cohort nine application deadline to May 29 as well; applications are available online. Final decisions will be announced in June, and the cohort is scheduled to begin […]

Kimle Aquaculture LLC received a $100,000 investment through the Wellmark Venture Capital Fund and an additional $100,000 Demonstration Fund loan from the Iowa Economic Development Authority, reports the Iowa State University Startup Factory. Iowa-based Kimle Aquaculture was a cohort six member of the ISU Startup Factory developing new solutions for indoor fish production to lower […]

The Technology Association of Iowa, Nyemaster Goode and Iowa State University Startup Factory will hold a forum on global intellectual property protection Oct. 21 at the Iowa State University Research Park. The Global Innovation Forum will open with a presentation by Bill Adamowski, president of the ISU Startup Factory, and will include a networking hour from leaders […]

EngeniousAg LLC, a participant in Iowa State University’s Startup Factory, has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) for $100,000 to develop low-cost, high-specificity nitrate sensors. The NIFA-funded project will allow EngeniousAg to improve the performance of their sensors and […]

This week, entrepreneur and Startup Factory cohort member Shelby Smith is caring for 5,000 to 6,000 babies. On Wednesday, they were mostly under 24 hours in age. Jiminy crickets, that’s a lot of babes. Luckily for Smith, the “pinheads” are just young acheta domesticus — house crickets — and fit very easily into the standard-sized […]

N-Sense LLC, a cohort member of the Iowa State University Startup Factory, has been awarded a $225,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant to conduct research and development work on development a field mobile soil nitrate sensor for precision fertilizer management, Startup Factory announced Wednesday. N-Sense’s system, developed by […]

Two Iowa State University undergraduates are taking home the $15,000 top prize at the Western University Ivey Honors Business Administration Business Plan Competition in Canada – after accidentally competing against MBA-level business founders. HomePainter co-founders Jacob McClamon and Anthony House competed against eighteen teams of undergraduate and graduate level university students from the U.S., Mexico […]