During 1 Million Cups Cedar Rapids this morning, organizers of the Iowa Startup Accelerator announced that—likely beginning in January 2014—the group will sponsor a broadcast of eastern Iowa’s 1 Million Cups across the state.
“The startup culture is strong in many communities around Iowa, but for the most part they are operating independently,” said Eric Engelmann, founder of the Iowa Startup Accelerator and Geonetric CEO, in a press release. “It’s time to pool our efforts.”
In eastern Iowa, 1MC is hosted each Wednesday morning on a rotating basis between Cedar Rapids’ Vault Coworking and Collaboration Space and the Iowa City CoLab. Des Moines also hosts a 1MC event for the central Iowa community. However, for entrepreneurs scattered across the state, organizers behind the Iowa Startup Accelerator hope the live stream will help Iowa build a stronger entrepreneurial network.
“We don’t have the luxury in Iowa of each community going it alone, there’s not enough density,” Engelmann (right) said. “We need to take advantage of the strengths of as many Iowa communities as we can, and share as much as we can. This will help us all grow together.”
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The broadcast will be free of charge, and spaces streaming the event will be able to submit questions for the presenting entrepreneur via Twitter. StartupCity Spencer, Purple Cat Cowork in Cedar Falls and Pella’s Veel Hoeden already have signed on to join the live streamed broadcast once it becomes available. To get your area’s coworking space signed up to participate, contact Kris Fassler, operations director at Vault.
The 90-day Iowa Startup Accelerator, which was announced in September, will be the first of its kind in the state and will welcome its inaugural class in summer 2014.
Credits: Eric Engelmann photo from Geonetric.
