While Monday marked the first official day of the Iowa Startup Accelerator in Cedar Rapids, it also meant the public would finally find out which teams were selected to be part of its inaugural class.
“This is a big day for Iowa’s entrepreneurial ecosytem,” Geonetric CEO and Iowa Startup Accelerator organizer Eric Engelmann told media and members of the community Monday.
“This is just the beginning of the next stages of entrepreneurship in the Cedar Rapids ecosystem.”
Out of 131 applicants, the 10 teams ultimately chosen traveled from all corners of Iowa, across the country and around the world to take part in the Iowa Startup Accelerator’s inaugural class. Three hail from Iowa, two travelled internationally to get here and the remaining five came from other areas in the U.S.
BECOME A SPONSOR
Join us in championing the narrative of success, resilience, and ingenuity that defines Nebraska’s startup community. Learn more »
Four of the 10 teams have women founders, which Engelmann and organizer Amanda Styron West say was a purposeful decision that they’ll continue to strive for in future classes of the Accelerator.
“I really feel like the community can rally around these teams,” Styron West said during the official announcement Monday.
One of the things that will help the community embrace its new members is that Accelerator building itself. Located on the second floor of Geonetric’s new offices in the New Bohemia area of Cedar Rapids, the Iowa Startup Accelerator shares a floor with the Vault Coworking Space, which recently relocated as well.
Upon entering the 95-day program, each team receives $20,000 of initial seed investment, with access to more than 100 mentors and a curriculum to help them grow their business quickly and effectively.
Beginning in September, Engelmann says the Accelerator companies will have the opportunity to pitch at the local 1 Million Cups. Formally, the Accelerator’s Demo Day is scheduled for Nov. 6.
Learn a bit more about each of the companies—descriptions taken from Iowa Startup Accelerator blog—and why they told SPN they chose to grow their startup in Iowa:
 |
ClikHome (New York City)A software platform that verifies property information, and matches renters and apartment property owners. Renters can rent directly from the website.
“(The Iowa Startup Accelerator) has an extraordinary team, especially with the resources they can provide. With the University of Iowa right here, they have 30,000 students who are all high-turnover renters so it’s the perfect place to test.” — President and co-founder Nick Kljaic |
 |
Kids Calendar Network (Lawrence, Kan.)A hyper-local media platform that makes it easy for businesses to market their programs and services to parents.
“I came to i2iowa and did the Pitch & Grow competition. I had a really tremendous response from everyone in Des Moines, and had the opportunity to meet Eric in Kansas City soon after that… And I was so impressed with the way the program was being built. This rivals anything else.” — Founder Beth McKeon |
 |
Kyoger (Waterloo, Iowa)A cloud-based platform to manage business processes and create standard operating procedures in industrial and manufacturing settings.
“I believe in what we have to offer here. Iowa’s community is not so large that it’s impermeable. If you listen, take advice and follow through, there’s a chance to build something really great here.” — Co-founder and CEO Trace Steffen |
 |
Produce Run (Australia)Allows food producers to market their products instantly to the end consumer online cutting out the middlemen.
“We were looking for someone to be our agricultural partner, and Eric and David got what we were trying to do. We believe Cedar Rapids is a great place for us to get started.” — Co-founder William Pattison |
 |
Punctil (Saratoga, Calif.)Mobile app that eliminates patient no-shows, wait times and bad debt for doctors.
“I’m returning in part of company because the biggest health care companies are based in the Midwest. All the stakeholders are here so why wouldn’t I be?” — President and co-founder (and Fairfield, Iowa native) Ben Picard, on why he moved his company back to Iowa from the Silicon Valley |
 |
Re-APP (Iowa City)A mobile app that enables users to measure and track their commitments to being green—one item at a time.
“I chose Iowa because I came from a background in conservation and Iowa has a long history for being innovation when it comes to conservation. And I’ve been working to build a tech platform for conservation, specifically recycling, so it was a natural fit for me.” — Founder and CEO Blake Rupe |
 |
ShopTutors (Hockessin, Delaware)A software platform that provides booking, payment, payroll, and analytics for tutors in educational institutions.
“It was a great opportunity being an ed tech company, and the area’s background there really attracted us to Iowa, especially with Cedar Rapids’ educational background.” — Co-founder and CEO Nathaniel Matherson |
 |
SwarmBuild (Tel Aviv, Israel)An online marketplace for designs and digital fabrication, including 3D printing, CNC and laser cutting.
“We’re focused on digital fabrication and manufacturing, and the Midwest is a hub for fabrication, but a lot of the business has moved overseas. We want to make the upper Midwest a manufacturing powerhouse again.” — CEO Boris Kogan |
 |
VenueFox (Des Moines)The first online guided event planner, bringing venues, vendors and fresh ideas together when it’s time to start planning an event.
“To be able to be an Iowa-founded company and grow with an Iowa institution was really important to us. For us, relocating to Cedar Rapids wasn’t even really relocating.” — Co-founder Andrea Hansen |
 |
Vinveli (Austin, Texas)A software platform to manage fleets of unmanned aerial vehicles.
“The Accelerator has a focus on agriculture and Iowa literally feeds the world. Our company deals with unmanned aerial vehicles and one of our first uses is for agriculture. Then when I looked at the mentor list, most were small company owners themselves rather than high-level executives. We felt that we could connect with them so much more, especially since many have a tech or agriculture background.” — Co-founder and CMO Yuan Qu |
Credits: Photo by Megan Bannister.
 |
 |
 |
