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What the First Hemp Growing Season Will Mean for Agtech
This is a guest post by Kate Casas. The legislation surrounding the manufacture and sale of hemp products was once a complicated issue. Now, at least, there’s some clarity around it. The passage of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 removed hemp from the list of federally controlled substances, a prospect that has farmers nationwide…
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Funding Roundup for the Week of November 18th & 25th
This week we are writing a funding roundup that really covers one and ½ weeks to cover Thanksgiving week plus the week previous. During this time period, Chicago received a disproportionate amount of the funding dollars in the region. However, Omaha and Oklahoma City both had companies close out fund raising campaigns. Also, the region…
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Bluepoint2 Growing Organically
I sat down with Liderman Duin who is the founder of Bluepoint2, a KC software startup, to discuss his experiences as a software founder, healthcare consultant, and current Pipeline fellow. We had met previously at a Pipeline recruiting event held at the Omaha Press Club earlier this summer. His story like many other founder stories…
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KC-Based Stackify Is Growing Fast, Hiring Too
Stackify has raised another round of capital. Stackify filed paperwork on November 20, 2019 that they had raised $4.132 million dollars. In conversations with the company, they revealed that they had actually raised a little more than $6 million in the form of both debt and equity. The round included $2 million from Cypress Growth…
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Interview with an Entrepreneur: Karen Linder
I have known Karen Linder for many years, and she is an incredible entrepreneur. Many people do not realize that she has been growing a 3D printing company in Nebraska, called Tethon 3D, for the better part of this decade. The company is one of the leading suppliers of porcelain and hard to produce ceramic…
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Research: Talent Attraction Case Study (Nebraska)
Last summer, the Aksarben Foundation approached Chapman and Company about creating a landscape analysis on talent for Nebraska. While this analysis is about Nebraska, there are many lessons for communities throughout the Silicon Prairie region. Here are some broad stroke lessons from the report: The United States is WAY behind on technology talent. This is…
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Funding Roundup for the Week of Oct. 21
It was a strong week for Minnesota. Between Total Expert and ShiraTronics, Minnesota based companies brought in more than $85 million in Venture Funding. There was a little more diversity than in previous weeks with companies in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin also raising substantial funds. These fundings are aggregate lists created from Crunchbase, SEC…
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Funding Update for the week of October 14
Chicago had another strong week. Overall the Silicon Prairie more than one hundred million in fundings this month, including some large rounds in Chicago and in biotechnology. Large Rounds (10m+) Apervita – Chicago – $22.56 million – Apervita is a healthcare technology company that provides health insights using machine learning and artificial intelligence. The company…
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ZAF Energy Systems Has a Big Month
In early October, ZAF Energy Systems of Joplin, Missouri announced an agreement to deploy their next generation nickel-zinc (NiZn) battery system in a United States Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile ground facility. This was a significant achievement. However, it was just the beginning of a big month for ZAF. This week, the company announced a…
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Silicon Prairie Podcasts: A List
In honor of the IO Summit, which was born out of the IO Podcast, Silicon Prairie News has compiled a list of some of our favorite podcasts from the Silicon Prairie: The Inside Outside Podcast – http://insideoutside.io/ – With over 168 episodes bringing together entrepreneurship and corporate innovation, this podcast is a regional leader in…