Rural Vitality Fund (Iowa Farm Bureau)
Rural Vitality Fund is the Iowa Farm Bureau's early-stage investment fund for rural Iowa businesses, run under its Renew Rural Iowa program. It backs small firms with equity, debt and mentoring from West Des Moines. As of 2026 it has backed one water company tracked by (don't) Waste Water, the Iowa State algae-wastewater spinout Gross-Wen Technologies, across two deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Rural Vitality Fund is the money side of Iowa Farm Bureau's Renew Rural Iowa program, which the federation formalized in 2006 to keep economic activity from draining out of the state's small towns. The fund began writing cheques the following year, when it was one of the only places an Iowa company could raise early-stage money without driving to a coast. It puts equity and debt into small rural firms, then wraps them in mentoring and a network of Iowa investors.
Rural Vitality Fund almost never invests alone. By the account of Adam Koppes, its senior investment manager, it is rare for the fund to do a deal that does not include at least two other Iowa funds or angels, and the data bears that out: its lone water bet sits beside Ankeny Angels, Mid-American Angels and the Ames-based Ag Startup Engine. The thesis is less about a sector than a place, the conviction that every corner of Iowa deserves a shot at outside capital.
Rural Vitality Fund reaches water the way Iowa does, through agriculture and the wastewater lagoon. Its one water company in the (don't) Waste Water database is Gross-Wen Technologies, an Iowa State University spinout that grows algae on slow-revolving belts to pull nitrogen and phosphorus out of municipal wastewater, then harvests the algae as fertiliser. It is water treatment wearing an agronomy hat, a tidy example of how a rural-development fund ends up owning a slice of the water problem.
Rural Vitality Fund is, for a newcomer, a lesson in where water money actually hides. You will not find it on a water fund's masthead; you find it inside a rural-Iowa portfolio, in the single wastewater startup that came up through the same land-grant pipeline as the corn and the hogs. With more than 70 companies backed across three decades, the edge to watch is that farm-adjacent seam, where the fund's next water bet is most likely to surface dressed as agriculture.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 1 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Rural Vitality Fund invest in?
- Rural Vitality Fund invests in early and growth-stage small businesses across rural Iowa, putting in equity, debt and working capital alongside mentoring. Its portfolio spans manufacturing, retail, agriculture and startups rather than one sector. Water exposure is narrow, surfacing through farm-adjacent ventures such as algae-based wastewater treatment.
- Who runs Rural Vitality Fund?
- Rural Vitality Fund is run by senior investment manager Adam Koppes within Iowa Farm Bureau's Renew Rural Iowa program. The fund was created by the federation with Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, CIPCO and the Iowa Agriculture Finance Corporation, and leans on a statewide network of Iowa investors and farmers.
- Where is Rural Vitality Fund based?
- Rural Vitality Fund is based in West Des Moines, Iowa, inside the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, and invests across the state's 99 counties. It grew out of the Renew Rural Iowa program, formalized in 2006, which pairs early-stage capital with mentoring to keep economic activity in Iowa's small towns.
- What water companies has Rural Vitality Fund backed?
- Rural Vitality Fund has backed one water-relevant company tracked by (don't) Waste Water: Gross-Wen Technologies, an Iowa State University spinout whose rotating algal-biofilm system strips nitrogen and phosphorus from municipal wastewater. Across two deals, that single bet earns Rural Vitality Fund an Occasional water-commitment rating, reflecting a rural-development fund that touches water selectively.
- Is Rural Vitality Fund the same as the Rural Vitality Ag Processing Fund?
- Rural Vitality Fund and the Rural Vitality Ag Processing Fund are sister vehicles under Iowa Farm Bureau's Renew Rural Iowa program. The main fund backs general small and growth-stage rural businesses, while the Ag Processing Fund concentrates on agricultural-processing enterprises. Both provide equity or debt to Iowa companies rather than grants.