Cedar Rapids startup receives award to grow business

A $75,000 award from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) will go toward helping a Cedar Rapids startup gain traction in growing their business.

Nextstep.io, which first started in 2012, received the funding award on May 16 as a way to develop functionality for their product and hire new staff to their team. Nextstep.io is a dashboard that allows fitness and health professionals to easily connect with clients via their fitness devices, such as Fitbit, Jawbone and the Nike FuelBand. The professionals are capable of using the data from a client's device to aid in health and fitness plans.

'We started doing some market discovery around the idea that the average user doesn't really get the true benefit from the device,” said John Schnipkoweit, co-founder of Nextstep.io. 'The longer you wear the device, technically the more valuable it becomes because you get all of this extra data and the longer you get that data the more valuable it becomes. The problem is the average consumer has a million things going on in their day, and there's not a great way for them to consume that information.”

Schnipkoweit explained that Nextstep.io plans to use some of the $75,000 to hire a salesperson to work to continue to grow the network of health and fitness professionals. They also want to use the funding to increase the number of activity trackers Nextstep.io can work with, including fitness apps.

Tina Hoffman, marketing and communications director for the IEDA, said the IEDA board frequently awards funding to startup and existing businesses within the state of Iowa to encourage development and jobs within the state. There is also the goal to encourage more businesses from outside the state to choose Iowa for a place to take their company.

'I think you look at all of the advantages that are here and it just makes sense,” said Schnipkoweit on requesting funding from the IEDA and starting Nextstep.io in Iowa. Schnipkoweit explained that they have a strong network within the state, including investors and mentors.

Hoffman said that companies being awarded funds from the IEDA must meet requirements such as ability to create long-term high quality jobs. Those standards are different for startup businesses such as Nextstep.io, which must do more to show viability.