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Des Moines Articles
OPINION

Dwolla’s Series B: Three things it means for Des Moines (Part 2)

3606_5ed070161b_small February 10, 2012 by Geoff Wood

Des Moines On Thursday, I offered three reasons why I believe Dwolla chose Fred Wilson’s Union Square Ventures to lead its Series B round, which was announced on Tuesday. In this post, I look at how the Des Moines startup community could be affected by Dwolla's milestone. 1. They'll continue to 'Dwolla in DSM' Dwolla co-founder Ben Milne has made being a Des Moines-based startup an integral part of his company's culture from the beginning. You see it … read more

OPINION

Not a techie? Not a problem. Finding the ‘write’ fit at the Startup Job Crawl

3585_66544824e1_small February 10, 2012 by Guest Contributor

Des Moines (This is a guest post by Riane Menardi.) In early November, I had no idea that the Midwest had a startup presence — heck, I think I had to look up what exactly a “startup” was after I saw a tweet about the Startup Job Crawl. I was clueless, but intrigued about this four-hour, tech-industry networking event. As a 2011 Drake grad, I was desperate for a steady paycheck … read more

OPINION

Dwolla’s Series B: Three things it means for Dwolla (Part 1)

3605_f71f481c26_small February 9, 2012 by Geoff Wood

Des Moines As you may be aware, the anticipated and recently rumored Series B funding news broke this week for the good folks at Dwolla in Des Moines. This round totalled $5 million and was not only raised out-of-Iowa but out-of-Silicon Prairie, with money coming in from both coasts. As rumored, the round was led by New York-based Union Square Ventures. Union Square, and its principal Fred Wilson (left) … read more

NEWS

Inaugural Iowa Creativity Summit taking place March 1

3608_327de2893b_small February 9, 2012 by Danny Schreiber

Des Moines Seven Des Moines creative professionals and entrepreneurs are teaming up to hold the first Iowa Creativity Summit on Thursday, March 1 on the campus of Drake University. "Everyone needs more creativity," the event's website reads, "but there is a big disconnect as to what it means, and how to encourage it in your environment." Headlined by Matthew May, author of three books, including "The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation," the summit … read more

FEATURES

Prairie Portrait: Lyndsay Clark of Hatchlings

3601_e901d466fb_small February 8, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Des Moines Bio: A Des Moines native with entrepreneurial parents responsible for raising me with a strong work ethic and passion to build things. Constantly looking to listen and learn — from what music I should queue up to a great book or blog I should be reading. | Title: Lead Interactive Designer at Hatchlings | Age: 24 | City: Des Moines, Iowa | Website: hatchlings.com | Twitter: @lyndsayclark | Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lyndsayclark/ | Intro music: I may be partial (my brother is in the band), but I can’t get enough of St. Lucia’s "We Got It Wrong." | Silicon Prairie News: You joined Hatchlings during what CEO Brad Dwyer calls a "re-startup" phase for the company. What does that mean to you, and how do you see it manifested … read more

NEWS

foursquare names Des Moines winner of ‘city badge,’ credits Drake class

3597_9c8a70b619_small February 8, 2012 by Michael Stacy

Des Moines Been there. Done that. Have the foursquare badge. For folks that make the rounds in Des Moines, that's now a possibility, thanks to a grassroots effort led by Chris Snider and his students at Drake University. foursquare announced today that Des Moines is one of five cities nationwide that earned its own badge in the foursquare city badge contest. foursquare, the popular, location-based mobile app that's a social network and rewards platform, last month challenged people to create and … read more

FEATURES

PrairieCast Video: Dwolla raises $5 million, SmartyPig shifts

3596_95c1b0852a_small February 8, 2012 by Geoff Wood

Des Moines Not one but two Mikes joined us this week on PrairieCast. Mike Colwell, director of the Business Innovation Zone in Des Moines and Mike Ferrari, co-founder of SmartyPig (now Social Money Systems) both sit in to discuss the big news that broke early on show day, Dwolla's $5M Series B raise, as well as the recent news from SmartyPig including a name change … read more

FEATURES

Watch live: PrairieCast at 2 p.m. with Mike Ferrari and Mike Colwell

3588_7851c2d309_small February 7, 2012 by Geoff Wood

Des Moines Join us live today at 2 p.m. for Episode 73 of PrairieCast. Our guests will be Mike Ferrari, co-founder of Social Money Systems, and Mike Colwell, director of the Business Innovation Zone. As you'd expect, we'll cover the news (not rumors this time) that just broke about Dwolla's investment round and also get the inside scoop from Ferrari about all the recent changes at his company. Have you checked out PrairieCast's … read more

NEWS

Dwolla raises $5m Series B round led by Union Square Ventures (Video)

3587_b6e7fe2428_small February 7, 2012 by Danny Schreiber

Des Moines Dwolla, an online and mobile payments network based in Des Moines, announced today it raised $5 million in a series B round led by Union Square Ventures of New York, with participation from Village Ventures and Thrive Capital, also of New York, Artists & Instigators of West Conshohocken, Penn. (Marc Eckō's venture innovation company) and angel investor Paige Craig of Los Angeles-based Betterworks. "The first round … read more

NEWS

Union Square Ventures leads $5m round in Dwolla; Marc Ecko, Paige Craig participate

3591_7843c9b921_small February 7, 2012 by Danny Schreiber

Des Moines In January, Betabeat cited un-named sources to report that Dwolla had raised around $10 million in a Series B round led by Union Square Ventures of New York. Dwolla, a Des Moines-based pay online cash transfer startup, responded quickly but passively on Twitter with allusions to songs titled "Rumors." Today … read more