Third Edition: Startup Iowa Hot List
Meet the startups to support and watch in Iowa + beyond
Welcome to the third edition of the Startup Iowa Hot List, showcasing startups companies to support and watch in Iowa.
This twice-monthly digest is to better connect Iowa-based startups (and affiliated) to the strong support networks in the Midwest investor and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Investors, entrepreneurs, mentors, corporate-startup champions, economic developers, and educators in and outside of Iowa can dial in on the startup activity happening across the state while finding the next business to support.
If you are a startup that would like to be featured, please fill out the application here.
Feedback, suggestions or questions? Reach out to Diana at dwright@dsmpartnership.com.
If you know someone that should subscribe to this list, please pass it along!
Actively Raising
🚀FarmPost
Highlights: The FarmPost App is the first of its kind mobile application that is aiming to be a leading marketplace that currently connects farmers to farmhands, significantly improving overall farm productivity on an annual basis. Farms need Full-time, Part-time, or seasonal farmhands and current practices to locate workers are inefficient and don’t work. Since launching in July of 2019, the application has secured over 9000 active users.
Raising: $400,000
Backed by: ISA Ventures, Ag Startup Engine, and ISU Startup Factory cohort member
Founded by Michael Schaeffer; Executive Summary
Contact: mschaeffer@farmpostapp.com + web; HQ: Dewitt, Iowa
Can you help? FarmPost is looking for agriculture businesses (seed sales, equipment sales, and precision ag) that plan to host summer or fall field days, in-house trainings, and events to reach out for any vendor opportunities.
🚀FarrPro
Highlights: FarrPro's first product was the Haven, an energy-efficient semi-enclosed micro-climate chamber that protects piglets while they are being weaned. Following the Haven, FarrPro built and marketed the NanoMat, a graphene-powered, efficient heat mat that lasts up to 10X longer than other mats. Recently, the company joined with industry leaders Movella, Getac, and Onset Corp. to offer a disruptive line of precision livestock products that enable predictive analytics, tracking, and traceability for the next generation of protein production.
Raising: $1,500,000 / Committed: $775,000
Backed by: Iowa AgriTech Accelerator, Grinnell Mutual, Onset Computer Corp, Burr Oaks Investments, Wellmark Venture Capital, Farmers Mutual Hail
Founding team: Amos Peterson, Bill Winkelman, Dr. Steve Hoff; Executive Summary
Contact: amos@farrpro.com + web; HQ: Ames & Iowa City, Iowa
Can you help? FarrPro is looking for advisors and investors who believe in their vision of a better animal agriculture industry enabled by improved equipment, intelligent automation, and predictive analysis. Also, they’re looking for assistance in finding the right people to join their team in sales, support, hardware engineering, data science and product leadership.
🚀Reeske
Highlights: Reeske is a mission-based technology that democratizes good insurance advice and redefines how middle-market Americans engage with life and disability insurance. With their B2B2C model, Reeske enables an insurance buying journey that captures a moment of need, engaging, convenient, and trustworthy. They are cracking the 60B dollar market, targeting a 30X ROI in 5 years.
Raising: $500,000 / Committed: $50,000
Backed by: Global Insurance Accelerator and Ocean Program
Co-founded by: Dennis Li and Sean Xu
Contact: dennis@reeske.com + web; HQ: Springfield, MA
Can you help? Looking for mentors who have experience growing the B2B2C model focusing on FinTech and InsurTech spaces. Also looking for intros to FinTech, financial services, and insurance distribution-related companies.
Closed Rounds
💰OpenLoop closes $8M Series A led by Panoramic, Next Level Ventures, ManchesterStory, Springtide Ventures, and ISA Ventures
💰Workhound closes $12M Series A led by Level Equity
💰Cowbell Cyber closes $100M Series B led by Anthemis Group (Global Insurance Accelerator backed startup)
State Funding Announcements
Iowa Economic Development Authority announced five startups that received financial assistance including:
FBB Biomed awarded $125,000 for Demonstration Funding
Harvest Increase Agriculture awarded $25,000 for Proof of Commercial Relevance
Dhakai awarded $100,000 for Demonstration Funding
Bristola awarded $25,000 for Proof of Commercial Relevance
ChopLocal awarded $25,000 for Proof of Commercial Relevance
BioConnect Iowa announced three SBIR/STTR funding awards including:
Superior Statistical Research won a $259,000.00 NIH Phase I award for Wastewater data integration and modeling to accurately predict community and organizational outbreaks due to viral pathogens.
Juggernaut Life Science won a $256,000.00 NSF Phase I award for Smart Semiautonomous Fluid Drainage System for Surgical Procedures.
PaniClean won a $175,000.00 USDA Phase I award for A Fluidized Bed Photocatalytic Reactor for Nitrate Conversion.
On the Horizon: Companies to Watch
Committer - Pay-as-you-go infrastructure for payments for software development-related work, providing employers with tools to manage billing and payments for contract developers.
Genvax - An animal vaccine company located in Ames, Iowa, poised to develop the next generation mRNA + nanoparticle vaccines.
Haber Technologies - Creating the future of grain drying and aeration, the smart DRI-Stack® system cuts energy costs, drying time, and can be monitored from anywhere.
Propel CMO - Offers fractional chief marketing officer services, or Marketing-Leadership-as-a-Service™, to growth-focused businesses that need marketing leadership, strategy, and execution.
Spanton Dynamics - The only power-driven spine board aimed at creating a safe movement for an injured person, focused to help a variety of medical applications, from spinal cord injuries to assisting with the transport of bariatric patients.
Last Chance to take the Iowa Founder Survey!
Help map the needs of our state’s startup community. Learn more here!
It’s more important than ever to know where Iowa’s startup ecosystem stands. And without representative data, it’s hard to measure the current state of the startup community. For that reason, we are currently conducting the Iowa Founder Survey.
Featured Fund: Q&A with Joel Harris from Ag Startup Engine (ASE)
Where does deal flow (quality investment opportunities) come from for ASE?
Harris: Early on, the deals coming to ASE came from Iowa State University Agriculture Entrepreneurship initiative which is run by Kevin Kimle. Around 2017, the ISU Startup Factory came to be and a lot of our Fund 1 portfolio companies came from those early cohorts. As the program has involved and the success of ASE has become more national we now see AgTech deals from all over the Midwest and beyond.
We still rely heavily on Iowa State University and Iowa stakeholders (investor and professional service referrals). But with the launch of Fund 2, we've gotten more network access to Corporate Venture Capital, Former Big Ag Executives, and larger institutional investors who have led later rounds of funding for our portfolio companies. All of this has compounded and tripled the number of deals we view annually.
What is your portfolio construction, aka the number of companies, check size, sector, and time to deploy funding?
Harris: Fund 1 has invested in 15 companies and we have 3 exits to date. Our minimum check size is $25K and the maximum check size is $50K; We have invested in startups building software, hardware, IoT, automation, animal health, cleantech, regenerative ag; This fund deployed capital over 3 years and is fully deployed.
Fund 2: We have invested in 10 companies to date (goal is 30-45 total over 5 years). Our minimum check is $25K and our maximum check is $50K, with follow-on up to $500k. We have invested in startups building software, insurance tech, animal health, e-commerce, robotics/automation, alternative protein ingredient technology, and sustainability. We can close an investment within 1 month of pitching to our investor members.
What do you look for in founders and teams?
Harris: We look for founders with deep industry expertise. Doesn't have to be the inventor or technologist, but would rather have problem solvers. And those solutions need to be 10x or more what the current solution is or substantially innovative. We want to be the first sophisticated check in and help founders map out their next rounds of capital raising and how to build a scalable business to exit or IPO.
Why do founders choose Ag Startup Engine?
Harris: We've had exits to Zoetis, Raven Industries, and Growers Edge. We've had some of the largest VC funds like BuildersVC, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Y Combinator participate in later funding rounds of our portfolio companies. Our investor members are deeply rooted in Iowa and the Midwest and have connections to help founders connect to customers and grow their businesses.
We're not an accelerator and try to have founder-friendly terms for our investments. We make investment decisions fast. My co-directors and I are successful entrepreneurs that have had to raise money from investors, hire and lay-off employees, and make tough decisions. I don't know anything similar to what we have in ASE for early-stage, AgTech deals.
To learn more about Ag Startup Engine, check out their website here.
Want to be featured in the next Startup Iowa Hot List? Reach out to Diana at dwright@dsmpartnership.com.