From 19 semifinalists, five finalists took the stage last night to pitch live during the second annual Silicon Prairie Startup Week (SPSW) Pitch Competition at Millwork Commons in Omaha. Service Stories, an Omaha-based startup helping service-based businesses with SEO and AI-optimized marketing content, earned the grand prize of $10,000.

Nebraska Innovation Labs, a nonprofit software and app development organization, won the $2,500 people’s choice prize determined by audience votes. Besides offering entrepreneurial mentorship, Nebraska Innovation Labs seeks to connect young talent with senior developers. 

Before the live pitches, all semifinalists took part in the SPSW Startup Showcase. This enabled all competitors to network with the community as the judging on who would move to the finals came to a close.

Businesses and organizations that applied to compete in the SPSW Pitch Competition had to be operating for fewer than five years, have a minimum viable product and be based in Nebraska. 

The judges for the live pitch competition were Omaha 100 President and CEO Malinda Williams, Great Plains I-Corps Hub Lead Instructor and UNeTech Institute Communications Strategist Stephanie Kidd and Nelnet Director of Innovation Brian Ardinger. Each of the finalists had five minutes to present and three minutes for Q&A with the judges.

The five finalists in presenting order:

1. Set Your Sites, presented by Co-Founder and CEO Stacy Dam
2. Service Stories, presented by Co-Founder and CEO Joe Toscano
3. Nebraska Innovation Labs, presented by COO Dillon De Rozairo 
4. Grapple, presented by Co-Founder and CEO Jack Sellwood
5. Aqualytics, presented by Founder Derek Gardels

Beyond appreciating the financial support that will go toward operations, his growing team and sales, Toscano said he was thankful for the validation the victory gave him. This win comes as he and his co-founder, Alex Rapp, join the first Techstars Founder Catalyst Program for Greater Omaha founders.

“Anybody who wants to do it in the upcoming years, think of the value of just getting in front of an audience like what we have here tonight,” Toscano said. “That can then help you understand where you are and what you need to do better.”

In addition to the prize money, Service Stories also earned free legal consultation from Baird Holm and one year of co-working space at Catalyst.

Programming for SPSW 2025 continues through Oct. 11. See the full programming and register for events on SPN’s website.