Entrepreneurial Assistance
It's your business but don't think you have to go it alone. Many financial assistance programs exist to get your business the capital it needs. Funds may be available from state-sponsored programs, individual investors or other sources.
- Grow Iowa Values Financial Assistance Program — Serves as the funding source for projects that are focused on job creation or retention, value-added agriculture and entrepreneurial efforts. This program, combined with Iowa’s nationally recognized business climate, tax incentives and proactive state government make Iowa a great place to do business.
- Demonstration Fund — Provides pre-seed capital awards of up to $150,000 to encourage prototype and concept development activities by small and medium-sized Iowa companies in the advanced manufacturing, biosciences, and information technology industries. The fund is designed to encourage commercialization of innovation to foster competitive, profitable companies that create high paying jobs and wealth in Iowa.
- Equity Funds in Iowa — Learn about Equity Funds currently seeking investors and investments in Iowa. Find out more about the Venture Network of Iowa and the unique opportunity available for entrepreneurs to present their ideas to Iowa's savvy investment community.
- Entrepreneurial Venture Component — The entrepreneurial component provides financial assistance and/or technical assistance to early-stage businesses that are developing a new product or new technology.
- Iowa Information Technology Joint Venture Fund — Provides up to $100,000 in financial and technical assistance to encourage joint-venture development of "orphan" IT innovations. The primary purpose of this program is to encourage Iowa IT-user companies and IT producer companies to work on joint R&D programs to develop the next generation of IT products and services.
- Networking Fund — The targeted industries networking fund establishes a program to provide financial assistance to support sponsorships of networking events for the creation of new deal flow within the targeted industries. Sponsors of networking events will bring together entrepreneurial businesses, established companies and members of the university research community to discuss new technologies and the innovations which the technologies support.
- Targeted Small Business Assistance (TSB) — Designed to assist in the creation and expansion of certain Iowa small businesses.
Additional Programs