Thirteenth Edition: Startup Iowa Hot List
Meet the startups to support and watch in Iowa + beyond
Every month, I write a newsletter for Iowa entrepreneurs to get more connected to the strong networks of support in the Midwest (and beyond). Investors, entrepreneurs, mentors, corporate leaders, economic developers, researchers, and educators in and outside Iowa can dial in on the startup activity happening across the state while finding the next business to support.
Welcome to the 17 new Startup Iowa Hot List members who have joined us since the last edition. Join 461 intelligent, curious, and supportive startup champions by subscribing below.
Actively Raising
🚀Dhakai
Highlights: Dhakai is the first tech-enabled factory direct supply chain solution for promotional brands and manufacturers. The team has successfully onboarded 125 manufacturers and 179 brands and grew revenue by 3X last year. Currently, over 55 brands streamline their apparel sourcing through Dhakai.com
Raising: $500,000; Committed: $250,000
Co-founders: Russel Karim, CEO & Founder; Rebecca Arellan, COO & Co-founder
Contact: russel@dhakai.com + web; HQ: Des Moines, Iowa
Can you help? The team wants to connect with anyone involved in the promotional and corporate gifting industry, including ASI and PPAI members, large event organizers, universities, and professional-semiprofessional sports teams.
🚀Twister’s Cafe
Highlights: Twister’s Café has developed a unique “freeze at-home dog treat” which does not require a frozen supply chain. The dog treats can be dry-shipped direct to dog parents for in-home enjoyment. The team recently launched its Kickstarter campaign on May 1 to begin pre-selling its category-changing “freeze at home” dog treats. The team reached its Kickstarter funding goal in four days and is approaching 200% of its goal as of this publication.
Raising: $500,000 seed round with pending commitments
Backed by: Self-funded by founders to date
Co-founders: Tom Straw and Steve Campbell
Contact: tom@twisterscafe.com + web; HQ: Urbandale, Iowa
Can you help? The team is looking to expand its strategic network of pet industry relationships and raise awareness of its Kickstarter campaign, which can be found on its website, www.twisterscafe.com.
🚀Want to be featured? Looking for more Iowa businesses for investment?
For a list of more startups actively raising (that may not appear in this newsletter) or to be featured in the next edition, reach out!
Have you missed a monthly digest? Check out the Startup Iowa Hot List archives for companies raising here.
State Funding Announcements
Iowa Economic Development Authority announced three startups that received financial assistance, including:
Nebullam (Clayton Farms) awarded $250,000 for the Innovation Acceleration Launch Fund
SmartScripts awarded $1,000,000 for the Innovation Acceleration Expansion Fund
Continuum Ag awarded $250,000 Innovation Acceleration Launch Fund
BrokerTech Ventures Announces $34 Million Fund
BrokerTech Ventures (BTV), the industry's first broker-led convening platform and accelerator program, has partnered with leading insurtech venture capital investor ManchesterStory to launch the BrokerTech Fund, the first venture capital fund focused on early-stage insurtech companies developing broker-centric technology solutions. Limited Partners of the $34 million Fund include Holmes Murphy, M3 Insurance, Baldwin Risk Partners, UNICO Group, IMA Financial Group, Christensen Group, and The Graham Company.
Mergers & Acquisitions
+ Kum & Go sells to Maverik’s Adventure First Stop
Remembering John Pappajohn: A lifetime legacy for building entrepreneurship in Iowa
Jeff Fleming Pays Tribute to John Pappajohn
Compressing someone’s life, even a component of a life, into a few sentences is a daunting task, especially the life of my friend, John Pappajohn. John could be demanding, difficult, tough, and complex, but he was also very smart, forward-thinking, generous, and exceedingly kind. First, I want to make it clear that when I speak of John, I am also speaking of Mary, for they were a couple who acted as one. John would often say, “Let me speak with Mary,” or “Let me run it by Mary.” I am not saying he did this in his business life, but he certainly did so in his philanthropy and art collecting. And they were art collectors with a capital C.
Continue reading the tribute here.
Read other tributes to John’s legacy: Des Moines Register, Des Moines Business Record, The Gazette, The Wall Street Journal, and all the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers at Iowa State University, Drake University, University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa, and North Iowa Area Community College.
Applications for the Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition are due May 15
The competition will award $100,000 in cash prizes to Iowa startups and entrepreneurial ventures. Applications are now open through May 15. Iowa businesses in any industry that have been in operation for four years or less, or have yet to be cash-flow positive, are eligible to apply. Learn more and apply at pappajohncompetition.com
On the Horizon: Companies to Watch
Caregiven (Delta Dental of Iowa) - Provides those giving care the emotional and practical support most needed through a self-guided chatbot experience
Intellisee - Creates a real-time artificial intelligence (AI) risk mitigation platform working 24/7/365 to detect and mitigate threats before an incident occurs
Stock Cropper -Builds a dynamic farming system that combines livestock and crop production so multiple species of plants and livestock can coexist in the field, creating healthier animals, healthier soils, and a lower carbon footprint
Upvote - Connects voters and politicians through the verified information that matters the most to them on one trusted platform optimized by AI
Zymosense - Develops novel probes for onsite and high-throughput enzyme measurement to help make enzyme screening more simple
Upcoming Events
📅 May 19 - The Lyceum Movement: The Philosophy of Kirk Ferentz
📅 May 23 - ISU Startup Factory Demo Day
📅 June 1-2 - Iowa Veterans Entrepreneurship Conference
📅 June 7 - Iowa Startup Showcase (open to investors only)
📅 June 8-9 - EntreFEST
📅 June 9 - Startup Weekend Iowa City
📅 July 18 - innovationIOWA panel discussion
Story + Sound Bites
🔊Scott Keplinger: Making the World Safer with Intellisee Technology (Small Business & Startup Stories DSM Podcast)
🔊Craig Rupp: CEO of Sabanto (The Innovators Podcast, ISU Research Park)
📚The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, And Our Lives (Peter Diamandis, Steven Kotler)
🗞️Midwest Growth Partners announces close of fundraising for third fund (innovationIOWA)
🗞️Slater company expanding as it prepares to make sustainable aviation fuel from algae (DSM Register)
🗞️NSF awards Iowa researchers $20 million to build advanced biomanufacturing capacity (ISU News Service)
🗞️ Nick Wallace wants to create Airbnb of agriculture with seated farm dinners across Iowa (DSM Register)
What’s in a name? The Startup Iowa Hot List is specially curated with a rush of urgency to read just before the news cools. See a company you are interested in helping? Please act and support entrepreneurs that may be featured on this list and those close by, impacting our local communities and neighborhoods.
Entrepreneurship has always been a community sport.
Want to be featured in the next Startup Iowa Hot List? Reach out to Diana at dwright@dsmpartnership.com.