The members of Team Primo, (from left) Kyle Pierce, Steve Scharf, Abraham Chavez, Huan Phan and Caitlin Bales, work on their business plan Saturday morning at Startup Weekend Lincoln.
The hometown Husker football team was on the road today, but that didn’t mean the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus was devoid of teams engaged in competition.
Startup Weekend Lincoln helped ensure that. The event’s marathon middle day, which is now nearing its conclusion, saw 10 teams inside UNL’s Avery Hall busily building on business ideas.
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Sixty-eight participants turned out for Startup Weekend Lincoln, the city’s inaugural rendition of a worldwide event during which groups spend a weekend working to establish the foundation for a viable business — usually one based on a web or mobile application. Forty participants gave one-minute pitches Friday night, and those ideas were eventually whittled down to the 10 still standing. The 10 groups spent all of today and will continue for much of Sunday working to prepare for final presentations delivered Sunday evening.
Silicon Prairie News will have coverage from Sunday’s closing pitch session, which begins at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. For now, we have details on the 10 teams, courtesy of Shane Reiser, a volunteer facilitator of the event who filled me in during a phone call this afternoon. We also have a handful of photos, courtesy of SPN’s Paige Yowell, who stopped by Avery Hall today.
See the team descriptions and photos below, and stay tuned to Silicon Prairie News on Sunday and Monday for additional coverage of the event.
The teams
StirList – A tool, described by Reiser as “Spotify for recipes,” that lets people share and discover recipes among people they know
Fiscal Circles – A web-based service that enables users to better understand their own spending habits and compare spending anonymously with people in their social circles or people of similar demographics
Paper Doll – A tool that helps people keep an inventory of their wardrobe and pick outfits in advance
EcoHome – A website for tracking energy savings and calculating the return on investment that people get from energy-saving products
Ear Training – Software designed to teach music through tone recognition
GetBackers.com – An online crowdfunding platform that aims to offer more flexibility than current crowdfunding options
Primo – A web-based platform that lets small or local restaurants display their menus and take advance orders
Redempt – An online lost-and-found directory
EatHealthyAt – A mobile application that enables users to find restaurants near them that serve healthy food
Open Campus – A website designed to improve the way departments in academia communicate with each other
Reiser addresses participants at a quick update meeting Saturday morning.
Team GetBackers.com listens to advice from mentor Mailani Veney.
(From left) Michael Freytag, Joe Smith and Jack Ehrke of EatHealthyAt work on their business plan.
Amber Pankonin and Robert Hinrichs of StirList plug away on their project.
(From left) Stacia Anderson, Cassandra Lottman, Meghan Rihanek and Nick Ebert of Paper Doll work on their idea, a virtual closet representation.
Credits: Photos by Paige Yowell.
