ISU Startup Factory Celebrates Success of Cohort 14 at Demo Day
Members of Cohort 14 and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence from L to R: Christopher Whitmer (NarrateAR), Donna Ramaeker-Zahn (EIR), Ryan Smity (Rise Energy), Karri Haen Whitmer (NarrateAR), Tannon Daugaard (Rise Energy), David Finegold (Torrgreen), Jordan Funkhouser (Rise Energy), AKM Mashud Alam (Colorsense), Dakota Belling (Bovi-Jet), Andrew Kirpalani (EIR). Brendan Smith (Humbdinger Motion Rehab), and Chunhui Xiang (Colorsense).
ISU Startup Factory, the startup incubator established in 2016, is thrilled to celebrate the achievements of Cohort 14. Made up of 17 members who are developing 10 groundbreaking business ventures, Cohort 14 showcased their innovations at Demo Day on December 5 at the Iowa State University Research Park Core Facility in Ames.
Dedicated to guiding researchers and inventors in translating their technological innovations into business-oriented language, ISU Startup Factory’s 18-week program concluded with each founder presenting their businesses for a final time. The audience included Iowa State University faculty, staff, and community members.
The impact of the ISU Startup Factory extends globally, as Cohort 14 included two companies from Kenyatta University in Kenya. To date, the program has supported 125 companies, collectively raising an impressive $65 million in funding, significantly impacting the startup landscape at Iowa State University and across the state.
Cohort 14’s presentations featured a diverse range of innovative solutions, including Humdinger Rehab’s “Rehab Rocker” for at-home rehabilitation, Upcycling+‘s plastic-to-fuel technology, Torrgreen‘s on-demand green energy from dry bio waste, ColorSense’s pesticide-detecting nano fiber, Bovi-Jet‘s automated pharmaceutical application for cows, Rise Energy‘s wet biomass to drop-in jet fuel process, NarrateAR‘s personalized AI companion for learning, Gentle Giants’ cost-effective enzymes supporting scientific advancements in Africa, DiaMol Innovations transforming Kenya’s scientific research landscape, and Your LiveFit’s platform empowering emerging sustainable fashion brands and fashion show organizers.
Both Peter Hong, ISU Startup Factory director, and Hannah Kirkendall, ISU Startup Factory program manager, expressed excitement about the growth they have seen in the cohort. “Many of our founders came in with very little understanding or expectations of what running a startup might entail. By the end of this program, the cohort members were able to articulate the critical elements of their businesses and identify potential barriers to their success,” said Hannah.
Cohort 14 member David Finegold of Torrgreen shared significant progress conducting over 50 customer discovery interviews, and developing a comprehensive commercialization plan. “In parallel with the Startup Factory program, we sponsored a CyBIZ Lab student project focused on market segment analysis. The student team identified a lead partner for the Iowa joint venture who has sufficient feedstock for our biofuel and energy company to generate $175M/year in revenue and create 250+ good jobs in Iowa.”
To learn more about ISU Startup Factory, visit ISU Startup Factory (isupjcenter.org), or visit the Startup Factory Facebook page.
