Investing in Iowa is a quarterly review of all investments made into early-stage companies in Iowa. The series is sponsored by ISA Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in Iowa-based companies.
Iowa startups raised more than $16 million in Q4 of 2021. Since the beginning of 2018, Iowa startups have now raised a total of more than $437 million.
The following is a list of all known investments raised by Iowa companies in Q4 of 2021.
| Companies | Location | Amount Raised | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardio Diagnostics | Coralville | $1,050,000 | 12-17-2021 |
| Continuum Ag | Washington | $475,000 | 10-14-2021 |
| Denim Social | Des Moines | $5,000,000 | 10-26-2021 |
| Koloni | Pocahontas | $1,248,394 | 11-08-2021 |
| N-Sense | Ames | $50,000 | 11-17-2021 |
| PeachPay | Ames | $2,600,000 | 12-5-2021 |
| Salin 247 | Ames | $50,000 | 10-18-2021 |
| SmartScripts | Washington | $5,670,000 | 12-06-2021 |
| $16,143,000 |
KEY TAKEAWAYS
2021 was the second-largest year for investments since we started tracking investments in 2018. In total, startups raised just over $120 million this year, down 21% from 2020. Q4 saw a considerable downtick in investments from the previous quarter — startups raised $65 million in Q3. The average investment round this year was just over $3.5 million.
Biggest rounds of the year
Dwolla announced in July that it had raised $21 million in funding to continue to build out its strategic roadmap and to expand to markets outside of the U.S. The round was led by Foundry Group. Additional investors were Park West Asset Management LLC, Union Square Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Firebrand Ventures, and Next Level Ventures. To date, Dwolla has raised more than $70 million in capital.
Des Moines computer vision company Roboflow announced in September that it had raised a $20 million Series A led by Craft Ventures. Additional investors named include Lachy Groom, Jack Altman, DJ Patil, Max and Sam Altman, Cassidy Williams, Harry Hurst, Greg Brockman and Mike Maples. The Series A round came less than a year after Roboflow raised a $2.1 million seed round in January.
Viewpoint Molecular Targeting, a radiopharmaceutical company based in Coralville, closed its third and final tranche of Series A financing, bring the round to a total of approximately $13 million.
LenderClose, a real estate and home equity lending technology platform, announced today that it has successfully closed a $10 million Series B funding round.
Lots of mergers & acquisitions
- Waukee startup AgriSync announced in December that it had been acquired by John Deere. Founded in 2015, AgriSync is a customer service platform for ticketing and remote support built specifically for ag businesses and equipment dealers.
- Growers Edge, a provider of data-driven financial technology (fintech) solutions for the agricultural industry, announced today the acquisition of the lending and appraisal software, as well as the farmland sales website from FarmlandFinder.
- Cedar Rapids-based data center and services company Involta agreed to be bought by the global investment firm Carlyle Group.
- Red Lab Technologies, a web design, development and digital marketing firm in Cedar Falls, announced last week that it has been acquired by Vested, a financial services communications firm.
Techstars alumni see early success
Two companies that took part in Techstars Iowa’s 2021 cohort have already raised funding since graduating from the program in October:
- Onward Delivery, a freight marketplace that connects retail stores to underutilized trucks already on the road, has closed an oversubscribed $4.7 million seed funding round, led by Range Ventures and Matchstick Ventures.
- QuickHire, a Kansas-based career discovery platform working with service workers to find job and advancement opportunities, announced today an oversubscribed $1.41 million financing round, led by MATH Venture Partners.
This list was made from a combination of SEC filings, Crunchbase and previous Clay & Milk stories from throughout the year. If you are aware of investments we may have missed, please post them in the comments or send us an email and we will be sure to add them.
Clay & Milk composes a similar list of investments every quarter to build a credible track record of capital raised throughout Iowa. Over time, we will add analysis to these posts, comparing past time periods and noting trends as they appear.
