StirList extends strong run, winning Lincoln Startup Week’s Idea Pitch

Lincoln Startup Week continued Tuesday night with a business plan competition. Invest Nebraska, Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and PitchBurner partnered to create the Startup Week Idea Pitch. Participants had five minutes to share their ideas with a panel of judges for a chance to win $1,000 to help get their idea off the ground.…

The StirList team of (from left) Amber Pankonin, Bob Hinrichs and Shaun Vanneman won its second pitch competition in three days.

Lincoln Startup Week continued Tuesday night with a business plan competition. Invest Nebraska, Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development and PitchBurner partnered to create the Startup Week Idea Pitch. Participants had five minutes to share their ideas with a panel of judges for a chance to win $1,000 to help get their idea off the ground. 

StirList took home the top prize, continuing its rapid recent ascent. The StirList team first came together on Friday and won Startup Weekend Lincoln on Sunday. 

During Tuesday’s quick pitch competition, which drew a crowd of about 50 to Lincoln’s Starlite Lounge, 12 businesses pitched, including nine tech companies. The competitors: 

  • Mexrico – Abraham Chavez
  • StirList – Amber Pankonin, Bob Hinrichs and Shaun Vanneman
  • Sebastian – Jonathan Crosmer
  • The Zone – James Verhoeff
  • TalQ – Adam Hunke and Sourabh Chakraborty
  • Laundry Pay – Kyle Pierce
  • GolfStatus – Ryan Cooper
  • rDempt – Michael Crowley and Keegan Jorgensen
  • Arch – Tim Hermanson
  • Tite Spike – Alex Adams
  • Pop Art – Jill Thayer
  • Cancer with Joy – Joy Huber.

Joseph Knecht of I2RD, Nick Bock of Five Nines Technology Group and Jeffery Meese of Talent Plus served as judges for the competition. After each pitch, the judges took two minutes for a question-and-answer session with the business.

StirList, which took home the $1,000 prize, began as an idea about how nutrition could be accessible to the people who need it most. StirList users can access “playlists” of recipes arranged by dietary need and developed by experts. These recipes are designed for specific dietary needs and can be tailored to personal specifications by dietitians.

For more from Tuesday night’s pitch contest, see the photos below. For a look at what’s on tap for the remainder of Lincoln Startup Week, see our detailed schedule.


Participants and attendees mingled at the Starlite Lounge before the competition started.

(From left) Joseph Knecht, Nick Bock and Jeffery Meese served as the judges for Tuesday’s competition.


Jason Ball of the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development was MC for the night.

StirList delivers what wound up being the night’s winning pitch.


Jonathan Crosmer of Sebastian presents to the judges. Sebastian, which was born out of Startup Weekend Lincoln just days before, took second place.


Credits: Photos by Kate Ellingson.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

Get the latest news and events from Nebraska’s entrepreneurship and innovation community delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday.