Des Moines Earlier this week, we shared the story behind the New York Times' Silicon Prairie story. In research for that post, I spoke with Jordan Lampe, director of communications at Dwolla, the Des Moines-based startup prominently featured in the story. In addition to learning about Lampe's role in The Times story, I took the opportunity to ask the early Dwolla hire how he's gone about securing consistent and notable press for the payments network. Dwolla is one of the most buzzed about startups in the Silicon Prairie region and, at some points … read more

Des Moines Dwolla today announced a new initiative to drive donations to charitable causes from users of social news site reddit. reddit Donate allows the moderators of reddit's category … read more

New York City Online payments startup Dwolla deemed the Ecommerce Hack Day it hosted with Etsy Aug. 4-5 in New York "a run-away success." And by most measures — the first-time hack weekend drew 223 participants, produced 37 hacks and featured some $20,000 in cash and prizes — the weekend was precisely as advertised. But one important — though less readily evident — gauge for the success of the Hack Day will be its effect on helping Des Moines-based Dwolla further establish a foothold … read more

Des Moines Citing unnamed sources, Business Insider today reported that Iowa native and Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher participated in Dwolla's $5 million Series B round that the startup announced earlier this month. "Sources tell us Ashton Kutcher, an Iowa native, is the mystery investor," Insider's Alyson Shontell, who also covered Dwolla's Series B, wrote. When reached by phone this evening, Dwolla's director of communications, Jordan … read more

Des Moines Dwolla, the online cash transfer startup based in Des Moines, rolled out mobile access today to Instant, its most popular feature release yet, on its iOS (left) and Android apps. Announced in December and made available to a limited amount of users through its website, Instant takes the wait time out of adding cash to a Dwolla account by giving users immediate access to a line of credit up to $500. Users must opt-in to Instant. If it's turned on, it costs a user $3 per … read more