The US Economic Development Administration announced that the Iowa Innovation Corporation (IICorp) will receive one of 52 awards being made in 2020 as part of their Build to Scale (B2S) program (formerly known as the Regional Innovation Strategies program).
The $525,000 award will support creation of a $1.29M Iowa Go to Market (G2M) Program, a partnership between IICorp, the Iowa State University Startup Factory, and VentureNet Iowa. The G2M project will capitalize on the success of Iowa’s existing accelerator programs and growing innovation ecosystem.
Selected from 600+ applications, these 52 grants are being made to nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and entrepreneurship-focused organizations from 36 states in support of entrepreneurship, acceleration of company growth, and increased access to risk capital across regional economies. The 2020 grants total $35 million and leveraged an additional $44 million in matching funds from a variety of private and public sector sources.
The Iowa G2M Program has two components:
First, an Iowa G2M Accelerator program will be established to provide support for commercial product development and fund-raising needs through advanced training in sales, marketing, corporate development, and finance. This program will provide access to a variety of business support services.
Second, an online resource guide focusing on the needs of high-tech startups will be developed and deployed as a means through which entrepreneurs can connect with providers across Iowa.
The project partners intend to launch the new accelerator program in early 2021 and an application process will be announced soon. Initial roll-out of the online resource guide is targeted for late 2020.
Anyone seeking further information on the G2M Program rollout should contact BioConnect Iowa.