The Des Moines Summit planning team has created an action-packed agenda to highlight the ecosystem’s uniqueness and strengths. As we prepare to convene, we want to share a little more about this thriving ecosystem from the perspective of our Summit Hosts and highlight a few sessions on the agenda.
Industry in Des Moines
Des Moines—often abbreviated by the locals as simply “DSM”—has a storied history in insurance, finance and agriculture so it's not surprising that many of the area's startup companies are focused on InsurTech, Fintech, and AgTech. In fact, with over 100 insurance carriers having a major footprint in the community it has at times been referred to as “The Hartford of the West”, as a comparison to the global insurance hub that is Hartford, Connecticut.
“I think anytime you have that many knowledgeable people in an industry, you’re going to see innovation in it. We have the Insurtech Global Insurance Accelerator, a program designed for InsurTech companies. All of the entities that back it are large insurance carriers and since they choose the startups that get accepted to the cohort, those companies gain inside tracks into the big carriers. Those carriers get to see under the hood of the startups while in the program and it can almost become an extension of their own corporate innovation. When they see a company they particularly feel good about they can lead or participate in future investment rounds or eventually acquire them. It’s a really tight way to do an accelerator because it’s so vertically stacked,” says Geoff Wood.
BrokerTech Ventures is an accelerator, mentor network and early-stage investment group similarly designed to the GIA but with backers from the insurance broker community rather than insurance carriers. During our “Engage” Session Track on Wednesday afternoon, we’ll hear from Dan Keough and Ellen Willadsen, two executives at Holmes Murphy & Associates, who will share how they came up with the idea for BrokerTech in 2019, why their agency chooses to engage with the startup community, the successes and stumbles they've experienced in building programs for nascent companies, and what they see as the future for both BrokerTech and the InsurTech industry.
With finance companies like Wells Fargo and Principal Financial Group having regional and global headquarters, respectively, based in the city, it’s no surprise that Fintech is also a major industry in Des Moines. When it comes to major fundraising and acquisitions, some of the region’s most successful startups come from this space such as Workiva, Dwolla and SmartyPig.
Iowa State University, the premier research university in Central Iowa, plays a major role in moving the entire community forward with an institution-wide focus on entrepreneurship and innovation. One place that is particularly visible and well developed is in the AgTech ecosystem. On Wednesday, we will hear from the chair of the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative at Iowa State, a farmer cooperative focused on investing in early-stage companies and the CEO of one of the fastest growing AgTech startups in the state. Together they will share ideas and strategies for pushing the industry forward.
The Des Moines Ecosystem
“People are taking bets on themselves (again). Iowan’s are starting new businesses at a record pace. Sparked by the pandemic, there is a resurgence of people solving problems, creating, trying a side hustle, and starting businesses.” Summit host Diana Wright in Clay & Milk
As we shared in the last blog post about Geoff, the Des Moines ecosystem has been growing and expanding for ten years now, bringing about much change, new players, and a second generation of ecosystem builders to lead the charge.
“This is the 10 year anniversary of what I think of as our ‘modern’ startup ecosystem in Des Moines. Successful startups existed here prior to that but 2011 was the launch of Startup City and that felt like the mark where the broader community really came together to make startups a priority.” - Geoff Wood
One of the key moments in that ecosystem growth was the launch of Des Moines’ 1 Million Cups chapter, the first chapter established by the Kauffman Foundation program team outside of the original event at Kauffman’s headquarters in Kansas City. On Wednesday morning, summit attendees will join with the local community to get the 1MC experience and hear from the Managing Directors of four Iowa-based accelerators: Global Insurance Accelerator, BrokerTech Ventures, Techstars Iowa, and Iowa Startup Accelerator. Baseball fans will appreciate that this special event will be held at the Cub Club, a venue in the left field stands at Principal Park, home of the Iowa Cubs (the AAA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs).
On Tuesday night, the summit is going to take a fun (literally) and immersive look at how one goes about building an ecosystem from the ground up. In this case, we’re talking about the Des Moines comedy scene. Teehee’s Comedy Club was founded with the purpose of building local stand-up talent. Teehee’s cofounder Sid Juwarker is an environmental consultant with a mission to build Des Moines into the next big comedy scene. Teehees is a rental space for businesses and for improv workshops during the day, and a comedy club at night. Summit attendees will get a chance to hear from Sid about his experience in developing the comedy ecosystem as well as see local comedian, security engineer and ecosystem builder Antoinette Stevens perform—and may even find themselves in an improv sketch!
Des Moines Pride
We asked our Summit Hosts to share what they are most proud of about the ecosystem. Here’s what they had to say.
“One of the biggest advantages to Des Moines and Iowa is profoundly simple: it’s a great place to start and grow a business. Strong networks of support for entrepreneurs and creatives already existed here before COVID-19. Startup champions are created here every day by someone’s decision to care and help entrepreneurs take the risk.” ”
“Many of us in the Des Moines ecosystem studied the original Startup Communities by Brad Feld in 2012 and came away with a need to eschew the concept of a ‘CEO of the startup community.’ Our community did embrace the idea and seems to have embraced newcomers wishing to contribute with vigor while giving space to those who needed a break. The ecosystem continues to grow giving me a true sense of pride.”
- Tej Dhawan, Principal Financial Group
“Most of the members of the startup community have a give first mentality. We're more than happy to pay forward the assistance we received early on in our startup journeys, to help earlier stage founders find success. I've learned that if you ask, someone always knows someone who is willing and able to help make an introduction, provide expertise, or answer questions.”
- Mikayla Sullivan, ISA Ventures
Ecosystem Challenges
Every ecosystem has its own set of challenges - some unique but some common problems across ecosystems. Here’s what our hosts said about the challenges in Des Moines.
“Techcrunch and other places talk about the Midwest as the next great opportunity for venture capital. I love that all of that is happening, but those funds are not typically investing in Iowa companies. They’re still investing in big cities like Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Chicago. They’re not necessarily coming down to a city our size and looking for investable companies. Even though we’re part of this big wave of funding it hasn’t always translated here,” says Geoff.
Geoff also notes the differences between Des Moines being a city that wants to see progress and growth, versus rural Iowa where there can be pullback when it comes to change. All of this is of course exacerbated by politics and labels. If the state wants to see growth and business vibrancy, policies and legislation need to be put in place so that everyone feels welcome and has the tools to succeed. Creating an equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem is a goal for many players in the ecosystem. We will hear from two: Nancy Mwirotsi and ReShonda Young, who run programs for underrepresented entrepreneurs.
A challenge Diana sees is the perception of what a startup actually is - a common problem within ecosystems where the startup scene has been over glamorized and flooded with too much of the same: white males starting tech companies.
“A challenge I see is thinking too narrowly of what type of business are represented in a startup community.” - Diana Wright
On that note, in addition to learning about the comedy ecosystem, summit attendees will get a chance to explore Maker culture through the Des Moines Maker Tour (an afternoon adventure option). There’s also a session during the Perspectives Track on Artists, Creatives, and the Music Economy where you’ll find out why DSM is home to a vibrant group of people you may never have known were here.
For Tej, the challenge is making sure everyone is in it for the long haul.
“The biggest challenge building an ecosystem in a thriving city is to have a constant flow of new ideas and executors. The Des Moines metro area's thriving economy limits the number of people engaging with the startup community AND keeping the requisite 20-year vision and outlook.”
Tej will be sharing his experiences as an ecosystem builder and angel investor during his talk on fundraising. He’ll share how Iowa’s nascent angel investor ecosystem of similar-sized small angel groups came together to collaborate on deal flow, lessons learned, due diligence and more.
Ecosystem mapping across ecosystems in Iowa is another challenge.
“While we are constantly working to make this better, I think there is still a lack of knowledge on resources in the various communities across the state of Iowa. Not all founders or community members in Ames know about all the resources available in other startup hubs like Des Moines or Cedar Rapids and vice versa. The best way we can continue to support the growing number of startups is to not duplicate programs or resources but leverage those that already exist across the state and make them accessible no matter what city you are building your company from.” - Tej Dhawan
Speaking of other ecosystems, on Tuesday, attendees will hear from longtime SCN member Eric Engelmann out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Eric will share how NewBoCo approaches sustainable ecosystem development in his small, Iowa city.
There’s a lot to learn, see, and do in Des Moines! We hope you’ll join us to explore and take back lessons from their vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem. Check out the full agenda here.