Startups

  • On Nebraska Innovation Campus, The Combine incubator hatches new agtech startups

    On Nebraska Innovation Campus, The Combine incubator hatches new agtech startups

    Before Seattle-based Costco broke ground on its $280 million poultry operation in Fremont in 2017, Scott Niewohner remembers a conversation with his cousin about the pros and cons of building barns to raise chickens to supply the plant.  Chief among the cons, according to Niewohner’s cousin: daily retrieval of the dead birds scattered throughout the…

  • IO2020: the New Innovators’ Summit connects entrepreneurial community (and tickets are free this year)

    IO2020: the New Innovators’ Summit connects entrepreneurial community (and tickets are free this year)

    Great ideas start with curiosity. Bringing those ideas to life is its own challenge.  That’s what longtime entrepreneur Brian Ardinger believes, and that’s why he’s made it his mission to help Nebraska startup founders, business leaders and innovators solve those challenges.  Ardinger is cofounder of InsideOutside.io, an innovation-focused resource network for startups, entrepreneurs, investors, enterprises,…

  • Payment tech company CardFlight gives businesses a break

    Payment tech company CardFlight gives businesses a break

    With no fewer than 32,000 business closures in the restaurant industry through the end of August—nearly 20,000 of them permanent, according to Yelp’s latest Economic Impact Report—the fragility of restaurateurs and similar walk-in businesses has been laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even for establishments that sought to pivot to curbside pick-up and deliveries, the…

  • Startup studio Beeso embraces do-or-die approach

    Startup studio Beeso embraces do-or-die approach

    Early on a Thursday, Beeso Studio founder John Bunting is typing a quick email while apologizing for not having his webcam on. This interview, by his estimate, is already his fourth or fifth meeting of the day. Bunting has been busy working out a deal that involves hiring a new team by the following Monday,…

  • ‘You don’t have to be an engineer to do this:’ Local founders say ‘no code’ apps are changing the game

    ‘You don’t have to be an engineer to do this:’ Local founders say ‘no code’ apps are changing the game

    Let’s say it’s 1985, long before “no code” is a thing. You’re lacing up your Keds to hit the cineplex and watch “The Breakfast Club” again when, suddenly, a person from the year 2020 steps through your Michael Jordan poster wearing, for some reason, a surgical mask. They look tired. After terrifying you with grim…

  • Lincoln Techstars Startup Week, featuring new social justice and environmentalist tracks, connects vibrant entrepreneur community

    Lincoln Techstars Startup Week, featuring new social justice and environmentalist tracks, connects vibrant entrepreneur community

    Over 30 free virtual info sessions, presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities covering tech entrepreneurship will mark a weeklong celebration of the Lincoln startup ecosystem beginning Monday.   Now in its ninth year, Lincoln Techstars Startup Week gives attendees the chance to connect with the entrepreneurial community while learning about the multifaceted challenges of startup life.…

  • Have an idea for the next big thing? NMotion and gener8tor want to help you make it a reality

    Have an idea for the next big thing? NMotion and gener8tor want to help you make it a reality

    If the idea of getting paid to build out one new product or service per week sounds exciting, then keep reading and act quickly. “We are seeking founders who want to create great companies here in Nebraska,” said Scott Henderson, managing director of the NMotion Accelerator, a gener8tor program. NMotion is launching a monthlong virtual…

  • Mindfulness startup HERE sees success after pivoting to address COVID-19 stresses

    Mindfulness startup HERE sees success after pivoting to address COVID-19 stresses

    Though the U.S. national employment rate of 8.4% is about half of what it was at its lowest point in April, a patchwork of back-to-school plans and continued COVID-19 restrictions have left many people stuck in their homes—for better or worse.  If Omaha startup HERE co-founder Dana Dyksterhuis has a say, it’ll be the former. …

  • Brazilian startup creates software to fight bias in the hiring process, has plans to expand to the U.S.

    Brazilian startup creates software to fight bias in the hiring process, has plans to expand to the U.S.

    Leave it to technology to solve problems not everyone has noticed yet.  Problems some people have gone out of their way not to notice. Problems some people would have noticed if only the problem had been framed differently. On that last point, consider this: a Winthrop University survey from December 2018 found that only 50%…

  • Des Moines-based Pitchly doesn’t balk at raising funds during pandemic

    Des Moines-based Pitchly doesn’t balk at raising funds during pandemic

    Raising an investment round for a startup is never easy. Try doing it during a global pandemic.  But it is possible with a combination of bold leadership, committed VCs and a good idea.  Just ask Ryan Gerhardy, CEO and co-founder of Des Moines startup Pitchly. Earlier this month, the data-driven productivity platform announced it had…