Pizza, beer and more than $2,000 in prizes drew nine teams to pitch in the annual JumpStart Challenge in Lincoln on Saturday afternoon.
After a last-minute venue change to the new Haymarket space occupied by Fuse Coworking, the first four pitches tackled the “corporate challenge” posed by the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. Teams had about a week and a half to ponder the problem, in a nutshell: “Lincoln companies need talent.”
“I got jazzed up the moment we started talking about the problem, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since,” said Mark Zmarzly, founder of HipPocket, who participated in the event.
Tyler Sprunk secured the $1,000 cash prize and a five-hour design workshop, with hat tips to his Forgelight Creative partner Derek Maze and Kode Starter’s Ed McKee. Sprunk pitched a relatively simple solution: a software tool to customize content prospective Lincolnites would see on recruiting-oriented websites like the Lincoln Partnership’s. The tool would read the visitor’s location, compare 15-20 data points about the two cities, and display five that show Lincoln in a favorable light.
For example, website visitors might see Lincoln’s employment rates, housing prices, poverty rates, or high school graduation rates stacked against Seattle’s stats.
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But maybe not crime rates, Sprunk joked; while prepping for the pitch, he was surprised to learn how Lincoln compared to bigger cities.
“That’s another problem, maybe next year,” he said.
LeverageRx takes open pitch category
After a pizza break, five teams competed in the “open pitch” category. Colin Nabity won with LeverageRx, the website he launched about a month and a half ago.
In classic pitching form, Nabity began with the problem his business confronts: Despite years of extensive medical education, physicians and other medical professionals receive very little financial, legal, or business training. That makes it difficult to run a practice, Nabity said.
LeverageRx fills that gap with an online financial help desk and recommended products and services like student loans and financing to support the user’s medical practice. LeverageRx’s offerings are free and anonymous for medical professionals; vetted and approved financial professionals pay for access.
In addition to the $1,000 cash and five-day design workshop, Nabity also won free coworking from Fuse.
The other JumpStart “open” pitches included:
- Brennan Costello of FarmAfield, which connects individual investors who are interested in agriculture with farmers who need capital. “This is farming without any of the chores,” Costello said.
- Zmarzly, founder of Hip Pocket, who pitched the new venture Hip Money, an app that connects to users’ bank accounts and encourages them to daily save small amounts toward short- and long-term goals. Zmarzly described it as “your best financial friend for life, instead of a “big brother mentality.” “We’re going to meet you where you’re at,” he said.
- Calico Alligator Studios and its first game design project, Battlesheep, pitched by Rachel Gibson and Andrew Rasmussen.
- Family Pet Project, pitched by Lizz Whitacre and Justin Collier. When it launches approximately March 1, the web-based matchmaking service will pair pet owners seeking to “rehome” their pets with prospective adopters and other resources.
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Patti Vannoy is a partner with Mattson Ricketts Law Firm in Lincoln, Nebraska, and a supporter of the local startup community. Before practicing law, she was a reporter and editor for local and regional newspapers.