BrokerTech Ventures took a significant step last week toward its goal of building a connecting bridge between Israeli- and U.S.-based insurtech founders and insurance brokers. The Des Moines-based insurtech accelerator hosted a delegation representing the Israel InsurTech Accelerator, which was launched last year in partnership with BrokerTech Ventures as the first broker-led insurance accelerator in Israel. […]
The Startup Iowa Awards are accepting nominations for awards recognizing efforts in the startup community. Finalists will be announced in December, with winners announced in January. Submit a nomination
Denim Social, whose software helps financial institutions manage their social media presence, has raised a $5 million Series B round of financing, Clay & Milk reported. The round was led by two banking-focused investment funds — Fintop Capital and JAM Fintop BankTech. The funds will support product development and drive significant marketing and sales expansion for the […]
America’s Cultivation Corridor launched its second iteration of Cultivo Virtual Academy Tuesday with a cohort of six startups from around the world. The six-week virtual program connects the participating companies with mentors and Iowa’s agricultural leaders and provides a curriculum focused on entering the U.S. market and navigating regulatory and finance systems. “It is exciting to welcome a […]
Tim Zhang, owner of Des Moines-based Starkline, is in the final round of the Making It … With Lowe’s pitch competition, which aims to give diverse small business owners an opportunity to sell their product in Lowe’s stores. Zhang’s electrical netting product is in contention to be the Fan Favorite; the product with the most votes will receive […]
Inside the intimate auditorium at the Science Center of Iowa, an audience of startup community partners, members and investors displayed their energy and excitement for the 2021 Techstars Iowa cohort at the Demo Day event Wednesday. Founders from the 10 companies each spent three minutes pitching their concepts and sharing the progress they achieved during […]
The Business Record spoke with Sevelyn CEO and co-founder Carlos Argüello when Techstars was just gearing up. At the time, Argüello had gathered a handful of users the weekend before the accelerator began — now he said the number of active paid users is growing each week and the goal is to have 1,000 by the end […]
In a funding round led by Craft Ventures and including at least eight other investors, Des Moines computer vision company Roboflow announced in a blog post that it raised $20 million. The raise comes after Roboflow garnered $2.1 million from a seed round in January. “Computer vision is one of those foundational technologies that – like the […]
Early stage insurtech startups can apply to Global Insurance Accelerator’s 2022 program until Sept. 12. This will be GIA’s eighth year hosting the accelerator, which supports cohorts by providing seed funding and bringing in more than 75 local mentors to advise companies. The 100-day equity-based program runs from Jan. 12 to April 21, 2022 with […]
The Global Insurance Accelerator’s 2021 InsurTech Days event was held at Curate Event Center in downtown Des Moines on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Business Record attended the first day to hear the growth story of Cowbell Cyber, a member of GIA’s 2019 accelerator program, and presentations from the 12 featured insurtechs. Attendees came from across […]