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MākuSafe raises nearly $3 million seed round

February 14, 2019

West Des Moines-based MākuSafe has wrapped up their seed round and has raised $3 million.

“Part of the money will go towards growing our team, but primarily it will going towards scaling our manufacturing process,” said Gabriel Glynn, CEO and co-founder of MākuSafe. “Right now we produce tens of devices for thousands of dollars. We’re gearing up to produce thousands of devices for tens of dollars.”

MākuSafe currently has five full-time employees with plans to hire one or two more in the immediate future, Glynn told Clay & Milk.

The round was led by EMC Insurance Companies, with participation by Next Level Ventures. This is the second time EMC Insurance Companies has invested in MākuSafe, having participated in $1.5 million round in October 2017. The round brings the total funds raised by MākuSafe to nearly $4.5 million.

“One of the things I’m really proud of is that the capital support has come from local investors,” Glynn said. “It’s a feather in the cap of the startup community here that the bulk of our funding has come from our own backyard.”

Last September, MākuSafe was selected to pitch at Angel Capital Association’s Best of the Midwest regional meeting, an angel capital event that took place in Des Moines. Accredited investors from around the Midwest pooled money together and collectively picked which participating startups would receive investment. MākuSafe was one of nine companies to receive investment money from the pooled $470,000, resulting in each company receiving an investment of more than $50,000.

MākuSafe will be presenting at Master Builders of Iowa Annual Winter Conference. Mark Frederick, MākuSafe CTO & co-founder, will be talking about “Predicting Risk and Workplace Accidents Using Wearable Tech.”

Previous coverage

Pitchly & MākuSafe receive investments from Best of the Midwest meeting -Dec. 18, 2018

Maple Ventures: an entrepreneur center for industrial startups -Aug. 21, 2018

MākuSafe raises $1.25 million to make workers safer -Oct. 16, 2017Q

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Ben Milne

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MākuSafe raises nearly $3 million seed round | 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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