-
First fundings research report
In talking to Jessica Straus, Dundee Venture Capital’s new Venture Partner, it occurred to me that we should write an update on first fundings in what Straus called the “mighty middle”. This paper describes first fundings. First fundings are a recordation of companies that raise capital for the first time. This paper uses Pitchbook data…
-
Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Provides Funds
The Iowa Economic Development Authority (“IEDA”) announced that five companies had received demonstration funds from IEDA last week The five companies funded by the IEDA are: Home Painter received a proof of concept loan of $25,000, Lender Close received a Propel Loan of $250,000 from the Iowa Acceleration Fund, MakuSafe received a…
-
Denim®– specializing in marketing technology for multi-location Fortune 500 companies…not jeans.
Denim’s data-driven platform saves time and money by enabling marketing teams to create, manage, and automatically optimize micro-targeted mobile ad campaigns for their brand and local service providers.
-
Your guide to the Heartland’s 1 Million Cups events
1 Million Cups was developed in Kansas City, MO in 2012 by Co-Founders Cameron Cushman and Nate Olson who were working at the time on the Entrepreneurship Team at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. What began as an experiment to bring entrepreneurs in one city together over a cup of coffee towards a goal of…
-
2019 Prometheus Awards winners announced
Technology Association of Iowa 2019 Prometheus Awards winners have been named. The Prometheus Awards took place last night in downtown Des Moines at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center. It is the biggest event of the year for the TAI, a statewide membership organization that promotes and celebrates the technology industry in Iowa. The…
-
8QS With a Silicon Prairie Founder: Tamara Brunow
Tamara Brunow is CEO of Brunow Contracting and H2W Apparel. Tamara Brunow is the CEO of Brunow Contracting, an SBA 8(a) Certified, Economically Disadvantaged Woman-Owned, HUBZone Concern based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Tamara has overcome gender barriers and other challenges in a male-dominated industry to become one of the few women in the country to…
-
Dwolla awarded the FinTech Breakthrough Award for Best B2B Payments Product
Dwolla has been awarded the 2019 FinTech Breakthrough Award for Best B2B Payments Product. Over 3,500 nominations were submitted this year from all over the world. “The really cool thing about this award is that Dwolla is not only the Best B2B Payments Product, but our payments platform powers the innovations of many…
-
LenderClose offers ‘lending heaven’ for refinance and home equity lenders
LenderClose, founded in 2015, and headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, is equipping local community financial institutions to compete with national lending brands. LenderClose is a developer of products and services for lenders with the mission of saving local lenders time and money, and ultimately lowering costs for borrowers, all with an exponentially faster turn-around. LenderClose’s…
-
MākuSafe closes $3 million seed round
Des Moines, IA-based MākuSafe announced on February 6 that it has raised $3 million in seed money. Investors include EMC Insurance Companies, Next Level Ventures, and The Best of the Midwest. The company plans to use the funds to hire and to scale the manufacturing of its technology. MākuSafe provides a cloud platform called MākuSafe…
-
Rantizo Wins AgTech Innovation Competition in Des Moines
Iowa City agritech startup Rantizo won the $20,000 Grand Prize, sponsored by Farm Credit Services of America, at last month’s AgTech Innovation Competition in Des Moines. Rantizo is an Iowa based agricultural tech startup creating a targeted drone spraying platform that utilizes electrostatic technology to safely and precisely deliver cartridge dispensed agrichemicals when and where…