2014 in startups: A year of progress for Corridor entrepreneurs

We Create Here was an initiative within the Gazette Company to develop evolving narratives and authentic conversations throughout Iowa's Creative Corridor. read more

Admittedly, I'm an advocate - some even call me a cheerleader - for startups and entrepreneurs in the great state of Iowa. But in many conversations over the past several weeks, it feels clear that 2014 was a transformative year for this community.

Reflecting on the year (tis the season - find year end recaps on diversity and new urbanism, too), it seems like there has been a lot of forward motion in resources available to entrepreneurs, funding for new ideas and overall awareness of Iowa's innovators in the Corridor and beyond.

Of course, there's also plenty left to do. While we saw some advances in diversity in the entrepreneurial community, more could be done to welcome women, people of color and different age groups into the innovation community. The maker movement seemed full of potential at the beginning of the year, but as 2014 comes to a close there have been some stumbles, including the Cedar Rapids Science Center moving (again). A recent statewide report suggests Iowa could do much more to keep up with peer states, looking at numbers like total entrepreneurial activity and jobs created by new businesses.

These are the trends that I saw in 2014 - what are yours? Comment below or come visit us at an upcoming event.

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Iowa is definitely on the map

Not that we ever had any doubts, but Iowa got some major national attention in 2014, and not just because it was a crazy (expensive) political year.

Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and former chairman of the Startup America Partnership, created a whole bus tour to highlight startups in great Midwestern cities, and Rise of the Rest visited Des Moines in October. The Washington Post and National Journal penned glowing homages to our state, and reality TV even came to Iowa (and not to a farm!) with Shark Tank casting in Des Moines and the (since cancelled) Utopia casting in Cedar Rapids.

Even more exciting, homegrown events including EntreFEST and Iowa Startup Accelerator Launch Day got big (and weird, in a good way) in 2014, exposing hundreds of Iowans to the possibilities inherent to innovation.

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Startup hubs and resources coming together

We always knew there were tons of organizations and people willing to help new businesses in Iowa, but at the end of 2014, it feels easier than ever to get plugged in. Many of these resources have coalesced around a few key organizations.

In Cedar Rapids, there's a geographic hub at the fouronefive building. Having the Iowa Startup Accelerator, Vault Coworking and Collaboration Space, Geonetric and the Iowa BIG School in one place means access to hundreds of creative people - and in true 'Iowa Nice' fashion, you're usually only one question away from their entire network, too. The ISA is also working on building a virtual network of mentors.

In Iowa City, the University of Iowa has rolled out several new programs, all under the umbrella of UI Partners. New classes aren't just for traditional students; Venture School has completed six cohorts all around Iowa, guiding teams through a customer discovery curriculum, and Dev/Iowa has trained 11 budding technicians through it's intensive bootcamp and many more through shorter workshops. Plus there are prototyping services and student interns available. Having UI Partners as a central starting point should make it easier for entrepreneurs to find what they need.

Finally, Startup Weekend is back in a big way on both ends of the Corridor, helping to kickstart new ideas and introduce new people to the community.

There are still many more great organizations working to help startups than we can list here, but it's great to see resources and talent coming together in such entrepreneur-friendly ways.

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The funding landscape has evolved

One of the first big projects We Create Here tackled for the new ventures topic was a conversation and in-depth report on Venture Capital in Iowa. We worked with many business leaders and entrepreneurs (especially Troy Miller), because at the time, founders told us that fundraising was one of their biggest challenges.

And while it still might not be easy to close a round, it feels like the tides may be shifting. ClusterFlunk, TelePharm, Vida Diagnostics and Higher Learning Technologies all raised more than a million dollars in 2014 - HLT did it twice. Several new funds were announced, including Next Level Ventures, NestMint and Midwest Growth Partners, plus the Plains Angels expanded to Eastern Iowa. Built By Iowa and Dreamfield Ventures both invested in Iowa Startup Accelerator teams on the spot on launch day. Plus, the additional national attention on Iowa sometimes brings money, too - see Rise of the Rest and Drive Capital.

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Leave room for joy

2014 was a year of startup pushups and whiskey Fridays, three startup weekends and a street party at EntreFEST, and quite a bit of chatter about happiness at work and agile.

For most of our readers (entrepreneurs or not) it was also a year filled with its share of late nights, uncertainties and losses, along with the wins. As one Iowa founder has said: "Making this stuff happen takes work. Not a little, not a lot, but life altering amounts of work that everyone around you does."

And another: "...everyone involved here is contemplating spending their life on your project. Not some mythical Work Life that can kind of suck as long as it enables a sufficiently comfortable Personal Life. Everyone is spending their Actual Life on what we are doing together."

Thanks to everyone in the community who keeps it fun along the way. Cheers to a bright 2015.