The Iowa State University Startup Factory today announced its ninth cohort of entrepreneurs entering the Iowa State-based program.
Ten teams joined the program, along with one honorary member selected to participate.
The program started on June 25 with a virtual kick-off reception. Cohort members, program staff, mentors, advisors, and investors joined the virtual ceremony held to celebrate program successes, honor past and graduating cohort members, and introduce the incoming cohort.
“Since its June 2016 launch, with this new cohort, the ISU Startup Factory has accepted 123 startups into the program,” said David Spalding, Interim Vice President for Economic Development and Business Engagement. “From that beginning, our companies have attracted almost $33 million in external funding. When you look at that over a four-year period, that’s an impressive dollar amount. That’s a tribute really not only to the quality of the program, the quality of the team involved in it, but also, the great opportunities there are here in Central Iowa, coming out of Iowa State, coming out of this region, to be in a position to start up scalable businesses here in our area.”
The following are the names of the participating startups in the ninth cohort:
Cyber Manufacturing and Metrology Solution, LLC (CM2S)
Led by Hantang Qin, Cyber Manufacturing and Metrology Solution is an Iowa start-up consulting firm with a commitment to excellence in the field of additive manufacturing, cyber-metrology, and nondestructive testing and inspection. CM2S performs testing and inspection on a wide variety of fabricated structures as well as industrial and commercial products.
iO1
Led by Scott Neff, Mary Beth Neff, Doug Svendsen, and Linda Svendsen. Iowa leads the nation in the production of corn, soybeans, pork, eggs, and ethanol. iO1 is developing a brand for products that primarily uses those commodities as their main ingredients.
Novus Technologies
A biotechnology company which manufactures and distributes graphene for biomedical applications. The team provides guidance with understanding properties and characterization of graphene using smart prediction tools for pioneering research.
Peach Pay, Inc.
Led by Aaryaman Anerao and John Jago, Peach Pay is a mobile app creating seamless checkout experiences for online shoppers.
Salen 247, Inc.
Founded by Dave Krog and Saeed Arabj, Salen 247 is an Iowa-based company developing small-scale, light-weight, electric-powered, autonomous farm equipment used for growing crops.
seedBiome
Founded by Rodrigo Pedrozo, seedBiome exists to explore and harness the microbiomes of commercial and wild seeds to design microbiological solutions to boost food production, quality, and safety.
SoilSerdem
Led by Yones Khaledian, SoilSerdem produces soil fertility maps based on an optimized soil sampling method. Machine learning algorithms and remotely sensed information is utilized for map creation.
Sushi3D
Led by Eric Weflen, Sushi3D helps product development teams create functional, testable prototypes in-house to increase speed to market. Subtractive 3D printing technology allows for fully solid rapid prototyping in final production materials.
VisiHut
Founded by Tim Garrett, VisiHut specializes in connecting building plans for architecture, engineering, and construction professionals with immersive, collaborative, and interactive experiences in augmented and virtual reality.
Transport Sect
Led by Mubark Jedh and Lotfi Ben Othmane, Transport Sect is developing a platform to detect malicious attacks on today’s connected and smart vehicles and alert vehicle owners to potential cyber security concerns.
Pediatric Assistance
Founded by Shawana Tabassum, Pediatric Assistance is developing a point-of-care diagnostic device for infants that detects three major diseases — sepsis, jaundice, and hypoglycemia — in a single biochip.
Source: ISU Startup Factory accepts 11 teams into its ninth cohort | Clay and Milk
