Attendees and startups come together Tuesday afternoon at Dwolla’s downtown Des Moines headquarters, a satellite location for the second Iowa Startup Fair in Des Moines.
A cadre of startup companies gathered Tuesday at StartupCity Des Moines and Dwolla‘s headquarters in downtown Des Moines as part of the Iowa Startup Fair, a week-long, multi-location series of events around the state to showcase Iowa entrepreneurs to the public.
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This was the second Startup Fair this year, with January’s event attracting 105 startups and more than 400 attendees in seven locations across the state. Tuesday’s event in Des Moines showcased 33 startups and drew about 125 attendees.*
The event in Iowa’s capitol city will be followed by a showcase that runs through Sunday at the Iowa Lakes Corridor Innovation Pavillion at the Clay County Fair in Spencer. The statewide Fair will conclude with the Innovation EXPO in Coralville on Tuesday.
“Not only did we see the success here … other participants are putting their own twist on it in other states,” said Tej Dhawan, a principal at StartupCity and the founder of Pikuzone.
“There are a lot of return companies — in some cases some of their inventory was sold — and a lot of people found a good amount of value,” Dhawan added. “But we also have a lot of new faces.”
Social Money was making its Iowa Startup Fair debut, and Sarah Foss, the company’s director of marketing, said Social Money was looking to meet fellow companies and prospective employees.
“We’re hoping to learn a little bit more about the new startups in Des Moines,” Foss said. “We also have a few jobs open, so we’re hoping to meet some new talent and network as much as we can.”
Meidh CEO Chris Draper said his company was eager to return for its second Startup Fair.
“We understand we’re really not alone in this,” Draper said. “I think that there’s a lot of companies with complementary interests. I think it’s good for the community as a whole — the traditional corporate business place — to know what opportunities are available for … what they may not be able to solve in house.”
For more from Tuesday’s event, check out the photos below.
StartupCity Des Moines served as one of the venues for the Des Moines leg of the Iowa Startup Fair.
Participants prepare before the event at StartupCity.
The Social Money team talks shop at Tuesday’s event.
Media Stop demonstrates for Fair attendees.
Always down for a good time, Analog the Prairie Dog made an appearance at the Goodsmiths booth.
Koala Pay’s Troy Miller (right) explains his Dwolla-infused point of sale product that facilitates customer loyalty rewards.
A live example of Koala’s pre-release beta was one of many hands-on opportunities for attendees.
Dart gun wars threaten to break out at the Dwolla satellite location for the Iowa Startup Fair.
Credits: Photos by Chris New.
