Winners announced in the 20th Annual John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition
North Iowa Entrepreneur Wins 3rd Prize of $15,000
MASON CITY, IOWA – Jared Doerfler of Mason City, IA won Third Place at the 20th annual John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition on Friday, August 22, 2025. Out of more than 35 submissions, 12 teams advanced to the final presentation round, with winners announced during a luncheon at Iowa State University in Ames.
The event opened with a tribute to the late John and Mary Pappajohn, honoring their extraordinary contributions to entrepreneurship in Iowa. Their legacy was celebrated through reflections on the impact of the five Pappajohn Centers and the lasting role of this competition in strengthening the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Following the presentations, a panel of judges selected the top three winners:
Immuno Nano Med received first place and was awarded $40,000. Balaji Narasimhan – President & Co-Founder
Hermes Biomaterials, Inc. received in second place and was awarded $25,000. Connor Thorpe & Shan Jiang – Co-Founders
Hanna Golf received third place and was awarded $15,000. Jared Doerfler – Founder
Hanna Golf isn't just an Iowa company. Hanna Golf designs and manufactures its own golf putters in Iowa. Hanna Golf CNC mills premium golf putters out of high quality 303 Stainless Steel while providing an old school customer experience. Relationships matter, quality matters, manufacturing in Iowa matters. Hanna Golf has shipped golf putters to 47 states and eight countries, all from a small shop in North Iowa. Hanna Golf aspires to be Iowa's Golf Company. Learn more at www.hannagolf.com
North Iowa inventor and winner Jared Doerfler shared, “Hanna Golf is a fully self-funded bootstrapped business. Building manufacturing companies in America is capital intensive. The $15,000 award from the Pappajohn Center is extremely meaningful and significant to us. It will fuel our continued growth. Hanna Golf is proven to be more than just an idea - it is a viable business generating revenue and being cash flow positive since it started in May of 2024. We are thrilled to have won third place, and can't thank the Pappajohn Center enough - especially our local Pappajohn Center at NIACC for supporting us. Building businesses in Iowa is cool - and we are grateful for the Pappajohn Center as a positive resource for entrepreneurs.”
Candi Karsjens, Director of the NIACC Pappajohn Center, said, “Jared has put tremendous effort into telling his story and building his business from the ground up. We couldn’t be prouder to have him represent North Iowa as a winning entrepreneur. His dedication, vision, and success with Hanna Golf inspire the next generation of innovators in our region.”
An additional $20,000 was awarded to three companies that received honorable mentions. The award recipients include S5G Therapeutics (Jessica Skeie, Aliasger Salem - $10,000), Tumbleweed Vida (Paul Richardson - $5,000), and SABER Chemical (Baker Kuehl, Michael Forrester - $5,000).
Since 2006, the John Pappajohn Iowa Entrepreneurial Venture Competition, supported by the Iowa Economic Development Authority, has invested $1.4 million into participating businesses, celebrating entrepreneurship across Iowa. The event is a collaborative effort led by the Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers at Iowa State University, Drake University, North Iowa Area Community College, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa.
For more information about the competition, visit www.pappajohncompetition.com.
