SBA Commits $50,000 To Support the Iowa Startup Accelerator
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact
Heather Stanley, Marketing and Communications Manager
319.221.1667 / heather.stanley@geonetric.com
Cedar Rapids, IA – September 6, 2013 – Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it has awarded $50,000 to support the Cedar Rapids-based Iowa Startup Accelerator (ISA), as part of the SBA’s first Growth Accelerator Fund competition. The ISA is one of 50 winners nationwide, chosen from more than 800 applicants.
“The SBA is empowering accelerators and startups that are on the cutting edge of successful, innovative new endeavors,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “We’ve seen the enormous success of the accelerator model in communities like Silicon Valley. We believe we can export this type of sophisticated support structure across the country to help startups become commercially viable and create jobs more quickly. I want SBA to stand for ‘Smart, Bold and Accessible’ and these accelerators encompass all three of these goals.”
The Iowa Startup Accelerator will receive a cash prize of $50,000 from the SBA, which will go towards the operational budget of the the accelerator’s nonprofit operating entity to help fund staffing and program expansion.
“We’re very excited to get the support of the SBA to grow and expand our program,” said Eric Engelmann, the ISA’s Managing Director, “we set out to build a world-class startup accelerator and to grow the state’s entrepreneurial prowess, and with this help from the SBA, we’re well on our way.”
The purpose of the SBA’s competition was to draw attention and funding to parts of the country where there are gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. There are entrepreneurial activities taking place in all 50 states, but some are better supported by private sector ecosystems than others. The first year of this contest presents an opportunity for the SBA to engage with and support organizations whose sole purpose is to help start-ups to grow, become commercially viable and have real and sustained economic impact.
Iowa Startup Accelerator representatives will fly to Washington in November to accept the award during National Entrepreneurship Month, produced in partnership with the Global Accelerator Network.
The ISA is located in the new three-story Geonetric Inc. office building at 415 12th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids and is designed to develop an environment for and a network of entrepreneurs, mentors and investors in Iowa.