State issues $100,000 loan to Cedar Rapids start-up Deetz

Iowa Economic Development Authority approved a $100,000 loan Friday for Deetz, a mobile app start-up in Cedar Rapids.

The Cedar Rapids business will use the funding for market planning and market-entry activities, key personnel and equipment, according to an IEDA document.

Deetz plans to expand to Iowa City by March 31 and to Des Moines by April 30, according to the loan application.

The free app, which went live May 20, allows customers and businesses to interact about activities and events in a map-based interface.

As of Jan. 4, the app had about 800 weekly active users in Cedar Rapids, according to the application. Raghul Ethiraj, Deetz's co-founder and chief executive officer, told The Gazette that number has grown to more than 1,200 weekly active users since then.

IEDA also approved a $25,000 Investigative Proof of Commercial Relevance grant to Iowa City-based FBB BioMed, a medical start-up founded in 2019 that is developing testing that 'measures disease severity to predict patient outcomes.”

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