Lincoln accelerator NMotion unveils inaugural class of Nebraska startups

Less than a week ago, we introduced the seven startups that make up the inaugural class of new Omaha accelerator Straight Shot. Today, we’re traveling an hour west to Lincoln, where five Nebraska-based startups have been enrolled in the first class of NMotion, an accelerator led by NUtech Ventures …

Brian Ardinger (far left) speaks with NMotion startups in FUSE Coworking’s classroom.

Less than a week ago, we introduced the seven startups that make up the inaugural class of new Omaha accelerator Straight Shot. Today, we’re traveling an hour west to Lincoln, where five Nebraska-based startups have been enrolled in the first class of NMotion, an accelerator led by NUtech Ventures entrepreneur-in-residence Brian Ardinger.

One company is in the health care industry, one aims to help users with personal finances, two are building marketing platforms and the fifth is yet to be known—it’s still in stealth mode. None have raised capital before now, and only one—SynerScan—has released a protoype.

It’s this mix of startups, Ardinger (right) said, that helped the accelerator pick these five from the 50 applications it received. It also considered “the components of the team itself, the idea and the market viability,” he said.

Each startup received a $15,000 investment—$20,000 initially, but the program charges a $5,000 fee—in exchange for giving up a 6 percent ownership stake to the NMotion 2013 Accelerator Fund. The fund earlier this year closed a $480,000 round of financing from Invest Nebraska Corporation (the majority investor in the fund), Nebraska Angels members and individual investors.

The program, which kicked off June 3 and ends in September with a demo day, is facilitated by NMotion Inc., a nonprofit sponsored by the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, Union Bank and Trust, NUtech Ventures, the University of Nebraska and others.

The teams will be based out of FUSE Coworking in the city’s downtown Haymarket District. On top of the seed investment, they’re receiving access to a pool of resources that includes training, more than 90 mentors and access to developer and designer talent, according to a press release.

For more on the accelerator, see our story: “Lincoln startup accelerator NMotion opens applications for inaugural class“.

NMotion inaugural class (June 3-Sept. 5)

Here’s a look at the five startups calling FUSE Coworking home for the next three months (descriptions provided by NMotion):

Fiscal Circles (Lincoln)

“It will literally be able to map out where you sit with regards to your peers in (your financial process), and say, ‘Hey, you’re getting 6 percent, your peers are usually getting 4 percent, here’s a particular deal to get you a better deal,’” Ardinger said. The idea emerged at Startup Weekend Lincoln last September.

Software offering consumers better context and confidence for financial decision-making

SynerScan (Lincoln)

“Currently piloting their project in Bryan Hospital right now and they’re looking at additional entities,” Ardinger said. It’s a past participant of NUtech’s bootcamp and earlier this year it won the city’s first Healthcare Connect Competiton.

Software to digitize hospital operations offering better health care through data

Signfront (Omaha)

“For example, (the sign can) read a variety of different streams of data, whether it’s Twitter, Instagram, etc., provide an easy way for (small- and medium-sized businesses) to update content on the fly,” Ardinger said.

Simple, low-cost digital signage software and hardware for small- and medium-sized business market

 

Cinnamon Social (Lincoln)

“There’s a lot of different tools to post content, whether it’s HootSuite or Buffer app. This particular software platform is looking for ways to intelligently solve the problem of what to post,” Ardinger said, noting the startup is in the prototype stage.

Software for automated and intelligent social media content curation

 

Stealth Startup (Lincoln and Omaha)

To be announced in the coming weeks

 

Credits: Photo from nmotion.com. Brian Ardinger photo courtesy Ardinger.

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 »

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