Iowa Code § 15E.362
Entrepreneur investment awards program
Redline — January 1, 2014 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2026
As of January 1, 2014
1. For purposes of this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
a. “Business development services” includes but is not limited to corporate development services, business model development services, business planning services, marketing services, financial strategies and management services, mentoring and management coaching, and networking services.
b. “Eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider” means a person meeting the requirements of subsection 3.
c. “Financial assistance” means assistance provided only from the funds, rights, and assets legally available to the authority pursuant to chapter 15 and includes but is not limited to assistance in the form of grants, loans, forgivable loans, and royalty payments.
d. “Program” means the entrepreneur investment awards program administered pursuant to this subchapter.
2. The authority shall establish and administer an entrepreneur investment awards program for purposes of providing financial assistance to eligible entrepreneurial assistance providers that provide technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs and start-up companies seeking to create, locate, or expand a business in the state. Financial assistance under the program shall be provided from the entrepreneur investment awards program fund created in section 15E.363.
2. In determining whether an entrepreneur assistance program qualifies for a grant under the entrepreneur investment awards program, the authority shall find that the entrepreneur assistance program demonstrates all of the following:
a. The entrepreneur assistance program expended at least five hundred thousand dollars in the program’s previous fiscal year to provide technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs seeking to create, locate, or expand a business in the state if the business derives or intends to derive more than ten percent of its gross sales from markets outside of the state. The five hundred thousand dollars in expenditures in the program’s previous fiscal year shall not include grants awarded pursuant to this section or any funds invested in clients’ businesses.
b. The entrepreneur assistance program provides services to meet the broad-based needs of entrepreneurs seeking to create, locate, or expand a business in the state if the business derives or intends to derive more than ten percent of its gross sales from markets outside of the state.
c. The entrepreneur assistance program communicates with and cooperates with other entrepreneur assistance programs and similar service providers in the state.
d. The entrepreneur assistance program engages various funding sources for entrepreneurs seeking to create, locate, or expand a business in the state if the business derives or intends to derive more than ten percent of its gross sales from markets outside of the state.
e. The entrepreneur assistance program communicates with and cooperates with various entities for purposes of locating suitable facilities for clients of the entrepreneur assistance program.
f. The entrepreneur assistance program is an Iowa-based business.
3. In determining whether an entrepreneur assistance program qualifies for a grant under the entrepreneur investment awards program, the authority may consider any of the following:
3. In order to be eligible for financial assistance under the program an entrepreneurial assistance provider must meet all of the following requirements:
a. The provider must have its principal place of operations located in this state.
b. The provider must offer a comprehensive set of business development services to emerging and early-stage innovation companies to assist in the creation, location, growth, and long-term success of the company in this state.
c. The business development services may be performed at the physical location of the provider or the company.
d. The business development services may be provided in consideration of equity participation in the company, a fee for services, a membership agreement with the company, or any combination thereof.
4. Entrepreneurial assistance providers may apply for financial assistance under the program in the manner and form prescribed by the authority.
5. The economic development authority board in its discretion may approve, deny, or defer each application for financial assistance under the program from persons it determines to be an eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider.
6. Subject to subsection 7, the amount of financial assistance awarded to an eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider shall be within the discretion of the authority.
7. a. The maximum amount of financial assistance awarded to an eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider shall not exceed two hundred thousand dollars.
b. The maximum amount of financial assistance provided under the program shall not exceed one million dollars in a fiscal year.
8. The authority shall award financial assistance on a competitive basis. In making awards of financial assistance, the authority may develop scoring criteria and establish minimum requirements for the receipt of financial assistance under the program. In making awards of financial assistance, the authority may consider all of the following:
a. The business experience of the professional staff employed or retained by the entrepreneur assistance program.
a. The business experience of the professional staff employed or retained by the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider.
b. The business plan review capacity of the entrepreneur assistance program’s professional staff.
b. The business plan review capacity of the professional staff of the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider.
c. The expertise of the entrepreneur assistance program’s professional staff in all aspects of business disciplines.
c. The expertise in all aspects of business disciplines of the professional staff of the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider.
d. The entrepreneur assistance program’s professional staff’s access to external service providers including legal, accounting, marketing, and financial services.
d. The access of the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider to external service providers, including legal, accounting, marketing, and financial services.
4. Upon being awarded a grant under this section, the entrepreneur assistance program shall accept client referrals from the economic development authority.
5. The amount of a grant awarded to a qualifying entrepreneur assistance program shall not exceed the lesser of the following for any fiscal year:
a. An amount equal to twenty-five percent of the funds expended by the qualifying program in the program’s previous fiscal year to provide technical and financial assistance to entrepreneurs seeking to create, locate, or expand a business in the state if the business derives or intends to derive more than ten percent of its gross sales from markets outside of the state. For purposes of this paragraph, “funds expended” shall not include grants awarded pursuant to this section or any funds invested in clients’ businesses.
b. An amount equal to one hundred percent of funds raised by the entrepreneur assistance program in the previous fiscal year from private foundations, federal or local government funds, financial institutions, or individuals.
c. Two hundred thousand dollars.
6. The grant awarded to a qualifying entrepreneur assistance program shall only be used for the purpose of the operating costs incurred by the program.
7. The economic development authority board may approve, deny, or defer each application for a grant from the entrepreneur investment awards program fund created in section 15E.363.
8. The maximum amount of the total grants awarded by the authority for the entrepreneur investment awards program shall not exceed one million dollars in a fiscal year. The authority shall award the grants on a first-come, first-served basis.
e. The service model and likelihood of success of the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider and its similarity to other successful entrepreneurial assistance providers in the country.
f. The financial need of the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider.
9. Financial assistance awarded to an eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider shall only be used for the purpose of operating costs incurred by the eligible entrepreneurial assistance provider in providing business development services to emerging and early-stage innovation companies in this state. Such financial assistance shall not be distributed to owners or investors of the company to which business development services are provided and shall not be distributed to other persons assisting with the provision of business development services to the company.
10. The authority may contract with outside service providers for assistance with the program or may delegate the administration of the program to the bioscience development corporation pursuant to section 15.106B.
10. The authority shall not award a grant to an entrepreneur assistance program from the entrepreneur investment awards program fund after June 30, 2014. It is the intent of the general assembly to review and assess the success of the entrepreneur investment awards program based on the report provided by the economic development authority.
11. The economic development authority shall conduct a comprehensive review of the entrepreneur investment awards program and shall, by December 31, 2013, submit a report of the findings of the review, as well as any recommendations and cost projections of its recommendations, to the governor and the general assembly. The report shall consist of the following information:
a. The number of grants awarded, the total amount of the grants awarded, the total amount expended on the entrepreneur investment awards program, and the number of entrepreneur investment awards to entrepreneur assistance programs that were the subject of repayment or collection activity.
b. The number of applications received by the authority for the program and the status of the applications.
c. For each entrepreneur assistance program receiving moneys from the entrepreneur investment awards program fund, the following information:
(1) The amount the entrepreneur assistance program received from the entrepreneur investment awards program fund.
(2) The number of entrepreneurs creating a business in the state that were assisted by the entrepreneur assistance program and the number of new jobs associated with the business.
(3) The number of entrepreneurs locating or expanding a business in the state that were assisted by the entrepreneur assistance program and the number of new or retained jobs associated with the business.
(4) The entrepreneur assistance program’s location.
(5) The amount, if any, of private and local matching funds received by the entrepreneur assistance program.
d. The number of clients referred by the authority to an entrepreneur assistance program receiving moneys from the entrepreneur investment awards program fund.
e. An evaluation of the investment made by the state of Iowa in the entrepreneur investment awards program.
f. Any other information the authority deems relevant to assessing the success of the entrepreneur investment awards program.
11. The authority may make client referrals to eligible entrepreneurial assistance providers.
2025 amendment to subsection 1, paragraph c effective December 31, 2025; 2025 Acts, ch 136, §59
Subsection 1, paragraph c amended
Official source: Iowa Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Iowa statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.