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The Middle Bit: Week of April 9

April 14, 2017

Each week, Clay & Milk will curate a rundown of startup, tech and innovation news from “the middle.” Check back every Friday for that week’s Middle Bit.

Illinois

YouTube Co-Founder Steve Chen invests in Midwest roots with $1M innovation hub. ChicagoInno

Representatives from Google, IBM Watson, Microsoft and some of Chicago’s top investment firms will be among the speakers at the first Chicago Machine Learning Venture Capital Summit held April 19. Chicago Tribune

Popular Pays, the Chicago-based startup which connects brands with social media influencers who create content about their products, announced on Monday it has raised $5.2 million in Series A funding. built in Chicago

Iowa

Insurance and technology leaders from around the globe will gather in Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2017 Global Insurance Symposium, April 25-27, exploring artificial intelligence, blockchain, autonomous vehicles and more. PR Newswire

Twenty Iowa economists from seven colleges and universities signed a New American Economy letter to President Trump, emphasizing the importance of immigration for economic development. Business Record

The U.S. Small Business Administration backed $6.8 million in private loans to Central Iowa businesses in March — more than double the amount it supported in February. Business Record

Minnesota

Prevent Biometrics has raised $3.8m of a $7m equity round for a smarter mouthguard. The company allows parents, coaches and trainers to monitor athletes in real time on the field of play. TechMN

Sansoro Health, a pioneer in data integration for health care, announced that it has closed $5.2 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures. TechMN

Rochester Startup Vyriad, one of the earliest adapters of Mayo Clinic’s push to encourage local entrepreneurship among bio-researchers, is graduating from the clinic’s biz incubator, with singing of lease for ex-IBM Building. Twin Cities Business

The Middle Bit: Week of April 9 | Clay & Milk

A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.

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