March 14, 2017

The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator, which is a product of the Greater Des Moines Partnership and Iowa’s Cultivation Corridor, has attracted a trio of new investors to commit $100,000 each, bringing the tally of investors to seven, and the total capital raised to $700,000.  All of the investors are from the private sector.

The new investors — Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corporation and Sukup Manufacturing — committed to investing in the accelerator alongside existing investors DuPont Pioneer, Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company, John Deere, and Peoples Company.

Greater Des Moines Partnership CEO Jay Byers told GAI News that ag tech startups that are chosen for the accelerator will be called upon to relocate to Iowa for 100 days of “intense mentorship” from top ag-industry executives and participants volunteering their time and energy for the program.

“We believe the most important asset we provide to the startups is the quality of the mentor pool,” noted Brent Willett, executive director of Iowa’s Cultivation Corridor, a public-private partnership dedicated to the agriculture industry.

In addition to the mentorship, each ag tech startup will receive $40,000 in upfront capital in exchange for 6 percent equity in the company.

“It’s not just a gift. We become a shareholder in that company. The $40,000 can be used by the company to market or assist in the development of a product, if they have a product. It’s the company’s capital at that time to be deployed in the fashion that their growth plan indicates,” said Tej Dhawan, interim director of the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator who is actively searching for a permanent director for the program.

The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator is modeled after the Global Insurance Accelerator, which was established by the Greater Des Moines Partnership and is currently hosting its third class.

“We are moving full steam ahead with the Iowa AgriTech Accelerator with every expectation that it will be as successful as the insurance accelerator,” said Byers, adding that the decision to pursue insurance and agriculture was strategic.

“Our two strongest clusters in Central Iowa are insurance and agriculture. What we want to do is try and dominate in insurance and ag tech. We have clusters here. We have customers here. We have expertise here. And that’s why we took this strategy,” he said.

Indeed, Iowa is a top U.S. exporter of pork in addition to row crops such as soybeans and corn. In fact, the ratio of pigs to individuals in the state is a staggering seven-to-one, according to NPR.

“We see it as beneficial to making the case and raising awareness of the new accelerator. For startups around the world to be affiliated with the state that is arguably the most competitive ag state in the country and perhaps the world, that was a strategic decision. But we retain a very global focus,” he said.

The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator will host a graduation ceremony in October at the 2017 World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa, which will provide an additional networking opportunity for the startups.

“This is an international event that draws large numbers of leaders from across the globe every year. Startups are coming here to Iowa to have 100 days of mentorship with amazing companies and producers, to fine tune their companies, and to pitch to the top leaders in agriculture from across the globe at the culmination of the project. I don’t think there are any other ag accelerators out there that can put something like this together,” said Byers.

And while there is room at the table for additional investors, the 2017 Iowa AgriTech Accelerator budget has been met.

-Gerelyn Terzo

Gerelyn is a regular contributor to GAI News. She has been writing about institutional investing and asset management for the majority of her career and has developed a focus on agriculture given the global scale of the industry’s relevance and importance