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STARTUPS Blog

  • Dr. Xinran Wang, Dr. Michael Castellano, Dr. Liang Dong
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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    Dr. Michael Castellano recalls the start of the entrepreneurial journey in 2018. “I had to look myself in the mirror and be clear that the odds of failure with a startup business commercializing a new technology were close to 99 percent. But I also asked myself if there was an opportunity to learn. And I thought there was much to learn. So, that outweighed the risks.”

    Thus began Dr. Castellano’s work with agricultural technology startup, EnGeniousAg. The startup aimed to commercialize nitrogen sensing technology to enable precision nitrogen fertilizer management. 

  • BJ Speech

    On October 23rd, students engaged in various programs and classes through Start Something CALS attended an inspiring dinner and discussion featuring successful local entrepreneurs. The event provided an invaluable opportunity to hear from keynote speaker Bj Brugman, founder and owner of Distynct, alongside Steve Goodhue, owner of Knapp Tedesco Insurance, and Adam Schonert, owner of Schonert’s Corporate Catering. 

  • Change-Maker Students with co-founder Nicole

    On October 29, 2024, students from Change-Maker Academy had the opportunity to tour Red Granite Farm, a diverse agricultural operation located in rural Boone County, Iowa. Owned and operated by Steve and Nicole Jonas, the farm spans over five acres and features a variety of vegetables, pumpkins, 800 laying hens, and more than 300 varieties of perennials. 

  • Students Touring Revelton
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    Content Author
    Carla Edleman

    On October 15, 2024, students involved in the various programs and classes through Start Something CALS embarked on the annual Startup Tour, visiting entrepreneurial businesses and startups around the Central and South Central Iowa areas.

    The tour kicked off in Slater, Iowa at Gross-Wen Technologies, a business focused on recovering nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from waste-water in a sustainable manner, implemented in industrial and waste water treatment facilities. Students toured the Slater waste water treatment facility and were greeted with a firsthand look at the innovative and efficient revolving algae biofilm system developed by Gross-Wen Technologies. 

    (Gross-Wen Technologies)

  • Change-Maker Students with co-founder Doug Kreg
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    Content Author
    Delaney Nichols

    The first exclusive tour of the Change-Maker Academy concluded with great success, leaving students enthusiastic and eager for the upcoming opportunities as part of the program. Last Thursday, students toured Salin 247, a cutting-edge start-up revolutionizing small scale, lightweight autonomous farm machinery located in Ames, Iowa.

    Founded by the innovative father-son duo, Dave and Ben Krog, the company was born from a vision to reduce soil compactions by getting heavy equipment off the field. Their mission focuses on creating more affordable, lighter machinery and minimizing the number of large machines on highways. Salin 247’s business model is currently service-based, offering autonomous machinery solutions to farmers with the goal of commercializing their equipment in the future. 

  • Distynct Team
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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    BJ Brugman (Agricultural Business 2012) moved back to Ames to build his business, Distynct, hoping to take advantage of the central Iowa agtech scene as well as access to resources and talent at Iowa State University. A recent project Brugman and his team at Distynct are a practical demonstration of what an entrepreneurial ecosystem can do for helping an early-stage business make progress.

    In Distynct’s office in Building 7 of the ISU Research Park, there’s a cubicle with a steady noise. But it’s not someone on the phone or video conference or the key taps from a computer. Rather, two 3D printers sit side-by-side printing out blue cases.


    3D printers making sensor containers for Distynct.

  • Dillon Blythe
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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    Dillon Blythe ('17 agricultural studies) didn’t use the startup idea he’d developed in the Econ 334/Entrepreneurship in Agriculture course right away after graduating in 2017, but he didn’t forget it either.

    “My startup idea from class was about providing soil fertility consulting services to farmers,” Blythe comments. “I took a position after graduating from ISU with an agriculture retailer, so I did work with farmers on soil sampling and fertilizer plans. Then I accepted a position with a seed company and farmers who’d worked with me in my previous position asked for help with soil sampling and fertilizer issues.”

    Blythe’s opportunity had arrived. In 2021, he started Blythe Crop Solutions, based near his hometown of Marengo, Iowa. “I asked my wife if I could quit my job and start a business,” he adds. 

  • Bryce Irlbeck, Tyler Bruch - Boa Safra Ag
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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    Bryce Irlbeck ('14 agronomy) and Tyler Bruch ('04 agricultural studies) recently took time to share entrepreneurial insights with Iowa State University students engaged in the summer incubator program, Rural Entrepreneurship Academy. The two are owners of a business that is one of the fastest growing businesses in agriculture, Boa Safra Ag. The company offers advanced tax services and scientific reporting that enables agricultural landowners to realize significant income tax deductions.

    “We’re forty-two months since starting the business,” comments Bruch. “We’ve had three hundred percent growth or more each year. We have customers now in forty-nine states, with more than three thousand customers and twenty employees. We’ve created great value for customers and so the business has grown alongside that value creation.”

  • The Big Apple Orchard
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    Content Author
    Brenna Berns

    This March, a group of about 45 student innovators participated in our spring Startup Tour, where they had the opportunity to engage with various Iowa entrepreneurs and changemakers across the state. The group visited The Big Apple Orchard, the Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery, the Old Capital Food Company, and TerraplexAg. Students ended their journey by returning to Iowa State University with a new outlook on entrepreneurship and innovation.

  • Brian Mike of FS Bioenergia talking to students
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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    Brian Mike ('12 agricultural business) and his colleagues at FS Bioenergia in Lucas do Rio Verde recently hosted Iowa State University students to talk about corn ethanol and opportunities in this agricultural production super state of Mato Grosso, Brazil.

    Mike first traveled to Brazil in a high school exchange program, where he first developed his skills communicating in Portuguese. “While at ISU, I did a couple internships either in Brazil or on Brazil projects,” he commented. “One of those projects was with Summit Agricultural Group, who was working to develop a project to put the first corn-based ethanol plant in Brazil.”

  • Alex Hage presents to ISU students in the Rural Entrepreneurship Academy, June 2022
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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    Alex Hage (Agricultural Business 2016) is not too far into his professional career but has already considerably exercised the entrepreneurial mindset and skillset he started to develop while at ISU.  His work ranges from building a greenhouse, starting a CSA, buying a business, starting a Highland Scottish Cattle herd and now starting a brewery with his father.

    We had a chance to catch up with Alex recently when he took the time to present his story to ISU students in the 2022 Rural Entrepreneurship Academy.

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    Content Author
    Emma Waterhouse Kevin Kimle

    Mitchell worked with farmers who were implementing innovative agronomic practices often referred to as regenerative agriculture. Practices such as reduced tillage and the use of cover crops aim to improve biodiversity and soil health. The Washington County farmers Mitchell worked with had been on the leading edge of experimentation with regenerative practices.

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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    This month, we will publicly mark the name and brand transition to Start Something College of Agriculture and Life Sciences from the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative (AgEI).

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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    Where does entrepreneurial inspiration come from? Each of us has to answer that question individually, but it is interesting when inspirational themes (or perhaps memes) emerge.

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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    What do investors look for when evaluating innovative opportunities? It depends on the investor, but I am in search of surprise. Innovation cannot be predicted. Innovation cannot be planned. It is not foreseeable. So, when looking for opportunities with upside I look for the surprising, the unexpected, maybe even the strange.

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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    "When I heard about Jared's idea to create 'The Etsy of Meat', I fell in love with the idea and wanted to be part of it," she said." Our shared passion for helping farmers brought us together, and deeply influences every aspect of our day-to-day work at ChopLocal."

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    Content Author
    Dave Krog Kevin Kimle

    This semester’s domestic travel course was project-based, the Farm to Fork Project. Twelve students explored the frontiers of entrepreneurial opportunity for direct-to-consumer agricultural businesses. They met a range of agri-food entrepreneurs and went through a multi-faceted process of opportunity analysis. This document is their written summary of what they learned, observed and concluded.

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    Content Author
    Marcie Fahn

    Andrew Albrecht (’19 Agricultural Business) grew up on a family farm and has always been thinking of ways to expand the farm. He always wanted to do something in agriculture and become a business owner. Starting July of 2019, he found a market that he figured was there for the taking.

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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    I am occasionally asked by venture capital investors in agricultural and food technology businesses (agri-food tech) about the technology-based interests of the students at Iowa State University.  The investors view student interests as a potential leading indicator of technology trends, and I agree.  I learn a lot from students, based on their technological and entrepreneurial interests.

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    Content Author
    Kevin Kimle

    When I started at ISU in 2009, my calls to other university entrepreneurship programs revealed a conventional wisdom that undergraduate students weren’t ready in most cases to start their own businesses, certainly not technology businesses.  ScoutPro was an early indicator that the conventional wisdom was, well, too conventional.

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