ISA Ventures
ISA Ventures is Iowa's first multi-stage venture capital fund, based in Cedar Rapids and investing only in companies that keep their operations in Iowa. It backs startups from seed to expansion across sectors from biotech to agriculture. As of 2026, (don't) Waste Water tracks 1 water company across its 2 water deals.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
ISA Ventures runs on a rule most funds would never accept: every company it backs has to keep its principal operations in Iowa. The fund grew out of the Iowa Startup Accelerator that General Partner Eric Engelmann helped build in Cedar Rapids, after he spent sixteen years growing his own software company there. The whole premise is that good companies can be built in Iowa and funded from Iowa, not flown out to a coast.
ISA Ventures is a generalist, not a water fund. It writes cheques from $25,000 up to $1 million and will follow a company from its first seed round through to expansion, which is what the label multi-stage means. The money spreads across biotech, health, education software, agriculture and food, insurance and finance, and logistics. Water is not a thesis here; it shows up where it overlaps with Iowa's real economy, which is farming and the water problems that farming creates.
That overlap is exactly where ISA Ventures' one water bet sits. The fund backed Gross-Wen Technologies, an Iowa State University spinout whose revolving algae belts pull nitrogen and phosphorus out of municipal and industrial wastewater, the same nutrients that wash off Iowa farmland and turn its rivers green. For an Iowa-only fund, a homegrown fix for Iowa's signature pollution problem is almost too on-brand to pass up. ISA Ventures invested alongside Iowa Farm Bureau's Rural Vitality Fund, a sign of who in the state takes this seriously.
So the honest read for a newcomer is that ISA Ventures is an Iowa economic-development fund with a single, well-chosen water holding, not a water investor. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Occasional for exactly that reason: 1 water company across 2 deals out of a $22 million fund spread over dozens of Iowa startups. If you care about water in the Midwest, ISA Ventures is worth watching for what it teaches, that the most fundable water companies are often the ones solving a problem the locals can see from the road.
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 ISA Ventures invest in?
- ISA Ventures invests in Iowa-based startups from seed through expansion, writing cheques of $25,000 to $1 million across biotechnology, healthcare, education software, agriculture and food, insurance and finance, and logistics. It is a generalist fund, so water appears only occasionally, through companies like wastewater-treatment startup Gross-Wen Technologies.
- Is ISA Ventures a water fund?
- ISA Ventures is not a water fund. It is Iowa's first multi-stage venture capital fund, a generalist that backs Iowa companies across many sectors. (don't) Waste Water tracks 1 water company in its portfolio across 2 deals and rates its water commitment Occasional, reflecting that water is a small slice of a broad Iowa mandate.
- Who runs ISA Ventures?
- ISA Ventures is led by General Partner Eric Engelmann, who founded and ran the Cedar Rapids software company Geonetric from 1999 to 2015 and later started the Iowa Startup Accelerator. An active angel investor in more than 40 companies, he anchors a small Cedar Rapids team backed by over 100 Iowa limited partners.
- Where is ISA Ventures based?
- ISA Ventures is based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the United States, and invests only in companies that keep their principal operations in the state. The Iowa-only mandate is central to its identity as Iowa's first multi-stage venture capital fund, built to keep capital and high-growth companies rooted in Iowa.
- Is ISA Ventures the same as the Iowa Startup Accelerator?
- ISA Ventures is a separate entity from the Iowa Startup Accelerator, though the two are linked. The accelerator, co-founded by ISA Ventures General Partner Eric Engelmann, mentors early-stage Iowa startups; ISA Ventures is the $22 million venture fund that invests in Iowa companies from seed through expansion stage.