Iowa Startup Accelerator changes small business

This story was first published in Celebrating Entrepreneurship 2025, an annual feature that showcases the Corridor’s vibrant entrepreneurial scene.

NewBoCo — New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative, Inc. — has redesigned its Iowa Startup Accelerator with a fresh focus: helping already-profitable businesses learn the skills and strategies needed to scale.

Launched in 2014 with $2 million in venture capital, the Iowa Startup Accelerator was initially the only program of its kind in the state. Its early mission was to fuel rapid growth for new startups, reduce risk, and provide investors with equity in participating companies. For years, the model worked well, allowing the accelerator to build a substantial support network that included accountants, developers, marketers, and other specialists. Over time, the effort transitioned into NewBoCo, a nonprofit based in Cedar Rapids.

Everything shifted in 2020.

“Across the nation, investors got away from investing in pre-revenue companies,” said Alex Taylor, director of entrepreneurship at NewBoCo. “We basically had to re-invent what that accelerator would look like.”

While exploring new approaches, Taylor found inspiration in the University of Iowa’s Venture School — a seven-week hybrid program designed to help aspiring founders validate their ideas while still being accessible to working professionals. Although Venture School helps participants determine whether their concept has market potential, Taylor noticed a gap once graduates finished the program.

“The problem is, when they’re done, those graduates who have product market fit and have a good idea, they have nowhere to go for additional help,” Taylor said.

In response, he reimagined the Iowa Startup Accelerator as a practical, education-focused program covering branding, prospecting, marketing, sales, and more. Over seven weeks, participants attend expert-led sessions on topics such as UI/UX for websites, digital and traditional marketing, and using artificial intelligence to refine messaging.

The program wrapped up with a Demo Day on Nov. 7, where six founders presented four-minute pitches for a chance to win prizes.

Taylor’s goal is to help participants scale their businesses and prepare some of them for advanced programs like Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, which offers deeper training, funding opportunities, and alumni support.

“My job now is coaching and mentoring these startups from curbside to Main Street to the investible,” Taylor said.

Because the accelerator aims to strengthen Iowa’s business landscape, all pilot participants were Iowa-based companies. This year’s group included businesses in payroll services, life coaching, homeschool curriculum development, and hitch-based plug-and-play products.

In addition to expert instruction, founders benefit from structured peer collaboration. They share progress, exchange ideas, provide feedback, and hold each other accountable each week.

“They’re data-dumping on each other all the time,” he said.

One participant, Keesia Wirt from Nevada, Iowa, joined after meeting Taylor at EntreFest and completing Venture School in Des Moines. She applied to the accelerator to learn how to grow Circa Legacy, her business focused on preserving family stories. Wirt interviews clients and creates custom books filled with narrative accounts, photographs, family trees, maps, and historical context — such as explanations of the Trident submarine when one client mentioned working on it.

“I am a writer. I did not know how to run a company at all,” Wirt said. “You can get by on passion for a while, but when you really want to start to grow, you need more.”

Before entering the program, she dreaded marketing and sales. Expert insights shifted her perspective completely.

“To be able to hear from (experts), it totally changed my mindset,” Wirt said. “Don’t think of yourself as a pest, think of yourself as someone who has something that can improve their lives or their jobs, and you are just trying to help them understand that you’re out there.”

During the program, she also developed a new idea: transforming her audio and video interviews into interactive online family portals.

Applications for the spring accelerator cohort are open until Jan. 15, 2026, with a planned start date of Feb. 27. To qualify, applicants must be based in Iowa, already generating revenue, and have a solid understanding of their business operations.

“This is not for incubating ideas — this is for accelerating business growth,” Taylor said.