Cedar Rapids and Iowa City
Handrail filed paperwork in early April with the SEC identifying $800k worth of commitments to a larger raise. Handrail is a company that focuses on user experience research. The website boasts that the company provides an end-to-end collaborative research and insights platform. Specific examples of how teams use Handrail include the ability to collaboratively plan,…
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The first step in getting on Shark Tank, the reality TV startup pitch competition, is a casting call. On April 6, 150 teams got their chance to pitch to one of five casting producers in Lincoln. The event was organized by the Engler Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “This is the time of…
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It’s no secret: The Silicon Prairie has a workforce problem. It isn’t just us, either. Employers across America can’t find enough qualified workers. With a historically low unemployment rate, qualified, talented workers aren’t just sitting in front of a screen browsing ZipRectuiter and CareerBuilder. This talent shortage hasn’t gone unnoticed by workforce developers. That said,…
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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…
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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…
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RAYGUN, raised $582,000 in angel funding from undisclosed investors on January 15. The company is a Des Moines, Iowa-based e-commerce platform selling printed apparel, home, and kitchen items. In addition to printed t-shirts, the RAYGUN’s online products include drinkware, paper products such as postcards, notebooks,…
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We are proud to announce the next edition of our State of the Silicon Prairie Report. In 2018’s report, we ranked 42 Midwestern startup communities on a variety of factors in order to measure where we are individually so that we might progress as a united region. As part of the AIM Institute, an innovative…
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Since the beginning of 2016, more than 150 Iowa companies have received a venture investment according to Pitchbook – totaling more than $100 million in venture activity in the state. Surprisingly, the Iowa City region has received more $1 million+ investments than any other community in Iowa, including Des Moines. And in that group from…
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Launch Day, NewBoCo’s annual event that celebrates accomplishments in entrepreneurship, innovation, and tech education in Iowa, is coming next Tuesday, December 11 to Theatre Cedar Rapids. “Launch Day is our annual opportunity to really celebrate the big wins for Iowa’s startups, innovators, and tech educators and students,” NewBoCo Chief Operating Officer Aaron Horn said. “I…
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Five finalist companies in northwest Iowa competed for a chance to win cash prizes to help grow their businesses. The fifth annual Dream Big Grow Here event, held at Sheldon, Iowa’s Crossroads Pavilion Event Center, took place on November 15. The committee selected five finalists to compete for first, second and third place prizes totaling…
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