As we get closer to the Silicon Prairie Awards on May 2, we still need your help to determine which individuals and companies will take home the trophies. We’re highlighting the finalists in each category so you can get to know the finalists a little bit better.

To vote, visit our Silicon Prairie Awards website hosted by Lincoln-based Reviewr and browse through the finalists. Click on Read More to log in and vote using the hearts. The more hearts, the more love you give the nominee! Score the finalists in each category between a 1-10. Please remember that you’re only able to vote once. Voting is open through March 21.

Anne Bachmann, Helping Oats

Read about Helping Oats on SPN.
Anne came up with the idea for Helping Oats while playing Division 1 Volleyball at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Eating oatmeal with giant scoops of peanut butter three times a day, she wondered why more people weren’t able enjoy her creative, healthy snack. Anne moved to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and soon founded her gourmet oatmeal company, Helping Oats. Gaining a big local following in farmer’s markets and coffee shops, Anne is now focused on bringing her oats to a larger audience with a packaged product to be sold on shelves. Anne continues to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she where she balances school work with running a business, and has served as President of the Collegiate Entrepreneur’s Organization at UNL.
Cast your vote now!

Bea Doheny, AstronoBEAds

While at the University of Missouri, and specifically, Mizzou’s Entrepreneurship Alliance, Bea has managed to apply the appropriate balance between entrepreneurial endeavors and scholarly activities. Bea launched AstronoBEAds on Earth Day 2016. AstronoBEAds is an online boutique with astronomy-themed jewelry. Her company currently sells six stellar products to both men and women. The venture is based on Bea’s interest in science, astronomy, and entrepreneurship. Within 8 months of operation Bea had $50,000 in products sold in 31 countries.
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Jocelyn Galicia, Mobile Car Tune

Jocelyn is a founder and owner of Mobile Car Tune, a technology startup and mobile mechanic service provider in the Wichita Area. She is an Entrepreneurship – Real Estate major at Wichita State University where she serves as the president of Shocker Startup and a University Innovation Fellow. She has won five entrepreneurship awards, such as the Jabara Scholarship and Don Debolt Scholarship. Jocelyn is also an intern at the WSU Center for Entrepreneurship where she assists in the planning and execution of events for several entrepreneurship programs. In the past, Jocelyn has worked as operations specialist for OxCart Products, a Wichita startup and has hosted pitch competitions, entrepreneurship speaker events, and workshops to promote entrepreneurship. Jocelyn found her passion for entrepreneurship at the age of twelve and has since then dedicated herself to that passion.
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Julianne Kopf, Bugeater Foods

Read about Bugeater Foods on SPN.
Julianne started and is running a company, Bugeater Foods, while getting her masters in Food Science and Technology. Along with that she was awarded a phase 1 USDA SBIR grant for the company while doing masters research for her degree. She is also board member for the North American Edible Insect Coalition as a food industry adviser. Julianne has pending patents for cutting edge food products and has created a product available in the market, all done while in school.
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MatthewRooda, SwineTech

Read about SwineTech on SPN.
Matthew Rooda grew up in Pella, Iowa, and even at a young age showed signs of being an effective leader. In 2012, Matthew Rooda graduated from Pella Christian High School and chose to attend Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo, Iowa, with the University of Iowa and a medical degree in mind. A semester later he was hired on as a Farrowing Manager and Assistant Farm Manager at Schneider & Schneider Pork Farms (SSPF), a farrow to finish operation, where he made an immediate impact. In August 2014, Mr. Rooda graduated with High Honors from Hawkeye Community College, left SSPF, and transferred to the University of Iowa, with the intentions of earning a B.S. in Genetics and Biotechnology and then a Medical degree.
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Spencer Steinert and Jared Goering, Vytal and Dino

Jared and Spencer are the founders of Vytal, a new health monitoring system designed to provide better analytics. The value of the work they’ve done on Vytal was recently recognized with a $10,000 award from the Wichita State University Jumpstart Competition. The winners were selected based on several criteria including technical merit, development stage, commercialization timeline, job growth forecast, collaboration with partners and time and money invested.
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In addition to Vytal, they’re developing Dino as a wearable product for students 4 to 8 years old. It introduces those kids to coding, electronics, biometrics, problem solving and creative thinking. It has already been recognized as one of the top 20 best among 700 participants in the Ozy Genius Competition. Spencer and Jared will learn in March if Dino is among the 10 winners.
Cast your vote now!

Collin Wyler, GoNow

Collin is extremely active in the Omaha Startup community, the Startup Collaborative, and many other organizations throughout the community. Last semester, Collin was the President of UNO’s Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization where he led 75+ students on a weekly basis helping them connect with local entrepreneurs and startups. Collin shows up; he enjoys networking and learning all he can from consistently attending events throughout the community. Following through with his eagerness to learn more about the startup community, he began his career with Sojern, getting started in sales. He advanced on to Flywheel where he is now learning a new market and growing his knowledge of sales and marketing full-time.
Cast your vote now!