I've been a judge at a lot of pitch competitions and my favorites ones always involve students. Usually these are business students or others on campus who have found their way into the entrepreneurial programming offered by business schools. For the first time, last week, I had the chance to judge student pitches for an "Entrepreneurship in Agriculture" class at Iowa State and I didn't know what to expect. It was great! Despite growing up in Iowa (or maybe because I grew up in Iowa) I've never embraced agriculture but I've recently had my eyes opened to the possibilities in the ag-tech market for the Iowa startup community and I'm excited to see it develop.

Mars Cafe — Located in the heart of the Drake neighborhood, Mars Cafe has long been a mainstay of students and the city’s creative community alike. A gathering place for student groups, host of art show openings, and even venue for musical performances, Mars Cafe is a hub for all sorts of community activities, which means you’ll be hard pressed to visit during a time when the coffee shop isn’t a bustling flurry of activity, or when you don’t run into someone who you know.

A few weeks ago I participated in a panel discussion on technology and innovation at the Business Record (the story is here behind their paywall and the video is available for free on YouTube). Brian Waller, President of the Technology Association of Iowa, was also on the panel and he brought up the idea of an ongoing "global war for talent" that they are seeing through their members every day.

Matt Patane, technology and innovation reporter for the Des Moines Register and Geoff Wood, community builder at Gravitate, sit down for an in-depth discussion of the companies, events and ideas making news in the Iowa innovation community.

Topics discussed on this episode: Tourney Machine acquisition, new female investor group in Cedar Rapids, Syncbak nets an additional $3MM and just a bit on Global Insurance Symposium, Smart Cities Conf and Young Entrepreneurs Convention

Feedback, thoughts or suggestions? Hit us up on Twitter or email the show at mvp@gravitatedsm.com

I published my first Power Rankings for the Iowa startup community this past week. As I mentioned earlier, the idea is to recognize the companies that are moving and shaking statewide at any given time and to help highlight their accomplishments on a regular basis.

One person who has been consistently able to find capital in this market is Derian Baugh, Founder & CEO of Men’s Style Lab. When he mentioned the other day that they had recently closed a round of funding I asked him, “what’s it like to raise money in Iowa right now?”