Since the beginning of 2016, more than 150 Iowa companies have received a venture investment according to Pitchbook – totaling more than $100 million in venture activity in the state.
Surprisingly, the Iowa City region has received more $1 million+ investments than any other community in Iowa, including Des Moines. And in that group from Iowa City, zero are investments tied to primarily ag-related technology. That being said, many of the companies represented in this list are companies that are in the agriculture industry.
Many of the Iowa City investments are healthcare related. Whereas, all five of Ames’ investments of more than $1 million are ag-related.
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SPN is particularly bullish on a number of the investments in Iowa in 2018:
• IDx strikes us as an exciting new piece of healthcare hardware. As you may recall from an SPN article that ran this fall – IDx provides hardware that can diagnose diabetic retinopathy without the clinical review of a doctor.
https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/10/idx-raises-monster-round-in-eastern-iowa/
• Dwolla remains a key player in the Iowa startup ecosystem. Ben Milne’s crew continues to transform payment systems – with better integration to payment platforms than ever before. Dwolla raised $12 million in series 2 venture funding in February, in a deal led by Foundry Group.
• Vet Measure is a collar-based device that can measure the health of canines.
https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/11/vetmeasure-raises-1-36-million-in-angel-funding/
• Performance Livestock Analytics also raised money this fall and is on the verge of transforming livestock commodities.
• Finally, LenderClose was a particular favorite in SPN’s community survey receiving a number of reviews as the top startup in Des Moines.
In short, a lot is happening in Iowa in the startup community, and it continues to be surprising because of the strength and breadth of where great new startups are emerging. We are particularly excited for the state to emerge even stronger in 2019 because of the multitude of companies that received first round funding in the last couple of years.
Check out some of our other stories from Iowa :
Igor: https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/08/igor-receives-900k-in-early-stage-vc-funding/
Vet Measure: https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/11/vetmeasure-raises-1-36-million-in-angel-funding/
Tractor Zoom: https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/10/tractor-zoom-completes-1-million-seed-round/
iota Motion: https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/10/iotamotion-receives-additional-round-of-financing/
Powerpollen: https://spnewsnjt.wpengine.com/2018/01/powerpollen-boosts-yields-cuts-costs-growers/
