Iowa’s economy has two great strengths: insurance and agriculture.
In 2014 the Greater Des Moines Partnership, an economic and community development organization, announced the Global Insurance Accelerator, aimed at growing insurance-based tech startups. It only makes sense that the partnership would seek to do the same for agriculture, which it will do with a newly announced ag tech accelerator.
“We didn’t want to try to be everything to everyone,” said Mike Colwell, Executive Director of Entrepreneurial Activities at the Greater Des Moines Partnership. “Des Moines isn’t special to everyone, but it is special to insurance people and ag people. We started with that, saying we could add value, key skill sets and a knowledge base. There are 60 plus insurance companies in the metro and close to 300 in the state, so we know it’s something we’re really good at. And we’re really good at agriculture.”
The Global Insurance Accelerator has produced two classes of six companies each, and the ag tech accelerator will follow the same format, with an initial class to be announced in early 2017. Just as the GIA is funded by insurance companies, the ag tech accelerator is being funded by Iowa agriculture companies. So far John Deere, DuPont Pioneer, Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance and Peoples Company have contributed $100,000 each, and four more investors are expected to be announced soon.
There are other accelerators focused on agriculture technology, but Colwell believes this is the first to be backed by companies that might directly benefit from companies involved, rather than being just financial investors.
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“One of the things we want this to do is to help identify the problems that the field might encounter in the next two to three years,” Colwell said. “These companies could try to build their own solutions internally, or they could find a startup and buy their services.”
Companies are looking at a bigger picture
There are ways in which companies involved with the accelerator are competitors, though Lane Arthur, Director of Information Solutions at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group, isn’t worried that work coming out of the accelerator’s classes might benefit others. He sees overall innovation for the field as the main goal here.
“The nice thing about this initiative is it really aligns with our overall goals in the precision ag space,” Arthur said. “What we’re trying to do is connect people we have in the region and across the industry. This helps reinforce John Deere and the state of Iowa as places that open innovation can happen. New ideas can help raise the bar in terms of what agriculture can do in the future.”
A worldwide reach
The Greater Des Moines Partnership also helped found the Cultivation Corridor, which is working with the partnership on the ag tech accelerator. The CC’s goal is to create agribusiness growth and innovation in Iowa. The companies involved with the accelerator don’t need to be from Iowa (the GIS has had companies from around the world), but they will have to spend 100 days here for the accelerator.
“The accelerator’s goal is to serve as a center of gravity for startup activity and new investment in the ag tech sector,” Cultivation Corridor Executive Director Brent Willett said. “It’s about creating an environment that is conducive to innovation and having them spend their formative days and weeks in central Iowa. If they decide to stay, great, but it’s really about the message to the rest of the world and less about the immediate job impact of having these companies here.”
What comes next
The ag tech accelerator will wrap up investment recruiting by the end of October and Colwell said the plan is to hire a managing director by the end of the year. The freshman class will be announced in the spring, with the program wrapping up in the fall, when the potential customers for new advances won’t be distracted by the harvest.
“We’re not trying to build another John Deere,” Colwell said. “We’re trying to build companies that support John Deere.”
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Joe Lawler is a freelance reporter based in Des Moines.
