Why the Next Great Startup Will Come From Des Moines
"Why the Next Great Startup Will Come From Des Moines" was first published on Inc., August 8, 2018. By Jeff Barrett
Why You Can Succeed In Des Moines Right Away
As an entrepreneur, Des Moines represents a unique opportunity. The access to capital is there. Iowa State University is 30 minutes away. You have access to large businesses that can either help you succeed or become your clients. And while that may be true in a lot of communities, what Des Moines provides is all the infrastructure with a clean slate.
Enterprise software company Workiva is based in Ames partly to access all the talent from Iowa State. It is one of the fastest-growing technology companies in the country according to Deloitte, has over 1200 employees in 16 cities globally and Forbes, Fortune and Glassdoor consistently rank it as one of the top places to work in tech.
"Iowa provides companies like ours the right resources and local support systems required for fast growing, high-tech businesses," said Marty Vanderploeg, CEO of Workiva.
And if you're looking to create a tech company, Bill Adamowski, President of the ISU Startup Factory, is drawing from his long-tenured experience in Silicon Valley to quickly assist a successful portfolio of amazing companies.
Gross-Wen Technologies, which uses algae for water treatment, may be the best. They landed the entire city of Chicago as their client and the byproduct of their process can be used for fuel. While farming algae alone for fuel is too expensive when combined as the cost of watewater treatment it starts to become economical.
Andy Suby, Biomass Processing Facility Manager at the BioCentury Research Farm, helps lead all the cutting-edge test projects companies do near Iowa State. ISU faculty are engaged in multiple pathways to biomass based fuels, chemicals, and value added products. These include algal conversion, biopolymer production, and several thermochemical pathways. Large companies are there working on fuel and even hockey pucks made from soybeans.
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