Iowa Startup Accelerator Receives $50,000 from SBA
Media Contact
Jessalyn Holdcraft, Marketing & Communications Coordinator
319.382.5498 / jessalyn@iowastartupaccelerator.com
Cedar Rapids, IA, August 4, 2015
For the second year in a row, Iowa Startup Accelerator (ISA) has received $50,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. ISA was one of 80 winners selected from more than 400 applicants from across the country.
“This support from the SBA will allow ISA to build a stronger and more inclusive startup community,” ISA Managing Director Eric Engelmann said. “We will focus on three initiatives: developing deeper investor networks, creating programs to foster female entrepreneurs, and constructing better ways for Iowa-based corporations to innovate using startup methods.”
ISA was one of two Iowa-based organizations to receive this funding; the other, the Entrepreneurial Development Center, also calls Cedar Rapids home. Additionally, ISA is one of 11 accelerators to receive this funding twice.
“This is a huge leap forward for Eastern Iowa’s already electrified startup scene. We are proud to play a part in making it happen,” Engelmann added.
The purpose of SBA’s competition was to draw attention and funding to parts of the country where there are gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. While there are entrepreneurial activities occurring nationwide, some are better supported by private sector ecosystems than others.
“SBA is continuing to make advances in supporting unique organizations that help the start-up community grow, become commercially viable, and have a real and sustained economic impact,” SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said. “Through the wide-spread outreach of this competition, we are able to reach entrepreneurial ecosystems across the nation. My commitment is to make our resources available to 21st century entrepreneurs where they are, and these accelerators are the gathering place for today’s innovators and disruptors.”