Coronavirus: Ashton Kutcher Tip Led To Iowa Testing Deal, Governor Says

Ashton Kutcher’s cameo during Iowa’s outbreak response may have caused a stir of skepticism, but his presence has reportedly turned out to be extremely helpful.

According to Iowa’s governor, the state’s $26 million coronavirus testing contract was sealed when she acted on a tip from Kutcher, New York Post reported. Gov. Kim Reynolds’ critics previously questioned Iowa’s outbreak response, saying they were puzzled when Kutcher came into the scene, especially when the state overlooked the idea of getting advice from its own experts.

Democratic Sen. Joe Bolkcom also faulted Reynolds’ failure to protect the residents during the pandemic. "Mr. Kutcher seems like a great guy but not sure what public health expertise he brings for advising our pandemic response,” he said. “But if he’s available, maybe he can go inspect the meatpacking plants."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reynolds was quick to counter the comments by saying that the actor, who is also an Iowan native, bolstered her partnership with Utah companies, giving them an "Iowa flavor." Kutcher also said he was using his connections to rack up creative solutions that can help contain the pandemic in his native state.

The Iowan governor also revealed that the tip came when she called the actor, asking him to record a public service announcement that will urge Iowa residents to stay at home and follow through with the imposed community quarantine. Here, Kutcher then asked the state viceroy if she is aware about TestUtah, a public-private partnership recently launched to increase coronavirus testing. Reynolds also recalled the actor saying it “looked very promising.”

Investing in technology for more than a decade, Kutcher mentioned that he had a friend that worked for one of the TestUtah contractors and offered to arrange a meeting for both parties. And after speaking with Kutcher’s associate, Reynolds said that her aides soon connected with the office of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. “We were able to start that conversation and ramp it up relatively quickly,” she stated.

Just last week, Iowa was able to sign a $26 million contract with Nomi Health, a virtually unknown Utah startup claiming to develop a “modern payment system for healthcare.” The contract stated that Nomi Health will supply 540,000 coronavirus tests to Iowa over the next six months. Its partners also include Utah-based Co-Diagnostics, which has been recently approved federally to sell COVID-19 testing kits, as well as tech firms Qualtrics and Domo.

The companies are also slated to run the TestIowa website, which allows residents to take voluntary assessments and determine whether they qualify for testing. The approved applicants can, in turn, set up testing appointments later on.

Though a venture capitalist himself, Kutcher is not an investor of the firms involved in Iowa’s deal, according to his publicist.

It wasn’t exactly revealed which one of Kutcher’s connections came through, but the actor was reported to have ties to Qualtrics CEO Ryan Smith, whose company is in charge of providing Iowa’s online assessment tool.

In a Qualtics release, Reynolds said that the company’s product will help save lives by helping the state monitor and determine where the testing sites will be placed. According to Smith, the deal was “an example of the way we all need to come together to fight this virus.”

To disseminate the proposed coronavirus initiative, Reynolds launched #TestIowaChallenge on Twitter, encouraging residents to complete the assessments. With the challenge supported by Kutcher’s promotional video, more than 80,000 people were able to complete the assessments in the first 24 hours.

Since the assessments ask for personal health and contact information, the contract requires Nomi Health to safeguard the confidential data, prompting the company to either return or destroy the information after the program is over.

The program’s goal is to add 3,000 tests per day and roughly triple Iowa’s testing capacity. The tests will be conducted at mobile sites around the state, with the first test to be conducted in Des Moines this Saturday (April 25).

Kutcher is the most active Silicon Valley investor in Hollywood. Amid his acting career, Kutcher is a founding partner of A-Grade Investments. His lucrative fund portfolio includes Airbnb, Uber, Airtable and Robinhood, to name a few.