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New Iowa Innovation Challenge will award $225,000 in funding

October 16, 2019

A newly announced startup competition by the University of Iowa—The Iowa Innovation Challenge—will award $225,000 in total funding during the 2019-2020 academic year to startups across the University of Iowa’s campus.

The Iowa Innovation Challenge is a university-wide competition with the goal to identify, advance and support the most innovative and entrepreneurial projects on campus.

The competition is currently accepting applications for the first phase of the competition that will be held this fall and will award $75,000 in prizes. The second phase will be a Business Model Competition held in spring 2020 and will award $150,000 in additional prizes.

Pitch workshops will be held prior to both competitions to help individuals and teams prepare.

The competition is open to anyone associated with University of Iowa including faculty, staff, students and incubator startups.

The Fall Elevator Pitch Competition will take place November 18-20 and will be split into two categories:

Faculty, staff, graduate students, incubator startups

Will compete on November 18
$50,000 in prizes available this fall

Undergrad students

Will compete on November 19 or November 20
$25,000 in prizes available this fall

Applications for the Fall Competition are now open and due by November 6.

Tags: university of iowa

New Iowa Innovation Challenge will award $225,000 in funding | 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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