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Winners of the 2022 Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition

August 19, 2022

The sixteenth annual John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition awarded $100,000 in cash prizes to nine Iowa startups on Friday, August 12.

The competition is a collaborative project of the Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers located at Drake University, Iowa State University, North Iowa Area Community College, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. The $100,000 in seed funding consists of a $50,000 contribution from John Pappajohn and a $50,000 match from the IEDA.

$40,000 was awarded to first place winner Mitchell Hora of Continuum Ag, $25,000 to second place winner Ray Schmidt & Jessica Vlastaras of Farm Story Meats, and $15,000 to third place winner, Kyle Gernhofer and Charlie Hubbard of DenScore.

Honorable mention awards amounting to $20,000 were given to Jayson Ryner of ReEnvision Ag Inc ($5,000), Dr. Sandeep Laroia of Juggernaut Life Sciences LLC ($5,000), Dr. Shan Jiang and Yifan Li of Janas Materials Inc. ($4,000), Emily Steele of The Hummingbirds ($2,000), and Dakota Hoben of Farmers Risk ($2,000).

Applications for the 2023 John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition will open in Spring 2023.

Tags: Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition

Winners of the 2022 Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition | 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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