After three years, the Techstars Iowa Accelerator will not return in 2023 and has decided to “take a pause,” organizers of the program announced last week.
Launched in 2020, the accelerator graduated a total of 30 companies throughout its three cohorts. The Des Moines-based accelerator was funded by the investment office of Grinnell College, which provided the initial funding for the accelerator program.
“The past three years have been incredible,” wrote Techstars Iowa in a LinkedIn post announcing the pause. “Working with Grinnell College to support entrepreneurs and collaborate with the entrepreneurial community in Iowa has been amazing. Grinnell’s commitment to entrepreneurial endeavors is admirable and will continue in many ways. We want to give a big shoutout and thank you to all of the mentors, Iowa ecosystem members, including Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, and investors who shared their expertise with founders.”
Six Iowa companies were accepted into the accelerator program over the three cohorts, including Des Moines telehealth startup OpenLoop Health and Sevelyn, a digital emotional wellness platform designed to service the Latino community. OpenLoop has seen a large amount of success since graduating from the accelerator’s first cohort in 2020. The company raised an $8 million Series A round in March 2022, and recently announced plans to hire around 400 new employees and expand from one floor to occupy three floors in the Bank of America Building on 6th Avenue.
Kerty Levy, who served as the Managing Director of Techstars Iowa for all three years, is now the managing director of Techstars Boston, according to BostInno. Levy is also spearheading a new crypto accelerator program called Techstars Crypto Boston.