NMotion powered by gener8tor introduced the six portfolio companies in the accelerator’s Fall 2025 cohort to the Nebraska startup ecosystem this week. The accelerator is designed to help scale early-stage, high-growth companies in the Great Plains region. The program lasts 12 weeks and is industry and business model agnostic.
NMotion invests $100,000 for 7.5% equity in each company. Participants receive one-on-one coaching, networking opportunities and access to additional resources and services.
The startups in the latest cohort are: Nebraska-based Merchcast, STUs, The Pennycress Company and Total Analysis; Minnesota-based ViaSight; and Tennessee-based Borrow Luxury.
The accelerator has typically led two cohorts each year, but NMotion Managing Principal Scott Henderson said the accelerator is planning to pause programming until the Fall 2026 cohort.
“That way, we can give more Nebraska companies the time to develop into compelling prospects and give us capital to make some follow-on investments in alumni,” Henderson said.
In the first days of accelerator programming, Henderson gives founders an in-person tour around the Nebraska startup ecosystem. This allows cohort members to build connections, learn from fellow entrepreneurs and envision what their companies could look like by continuing their journeys.
This week, the Fall 2025 cohort visited Don’t Panic Labs (DPL), the software engineering and innovation consulting company in Lincoln. There, founders attended the weekly 1 Million Cups Lincoln networking event before touring DPL’s office.
During the tour, DPL team members shared insights into the realities of how long it could take before making a profit, navigating the software side of things as nontechnical founders and being flexible to pivot a startup to fit market needs.
“Make sure you are in love with the problem, not the solution,” DPL Senior Account Manager Andrew Rush advised.
Meet the cohort
The Fall 2025 cohort includes six companies seeking to solve a range of problems:
- Borrow Luxury: A rental platform seeking to make high-end fashion and jewelry more accessible. Led by Marisanne Cofer and Dara Cunningham.
- Merchcast: A merchandise management platform designed for musicians, trade show vendors and other event-based retailers. It helps track inventory levels and sales performance in order to optimize earning revenue on products. Led by Parker Crane, Nate Skinner, Nathan Richardson and Matthew Richardson.
- STUs: A premium brand of cocktail concentrates for consumers who want to make Bloody Marys at home. Led by Scott Bishop.
- The Pennycress Company: An agricultural bioengineering startup that uses bioengineered field pennycress to help farmers achieve another income source between cash crop harvests. The seed and grown crops can be used to create animal feed and biofuel while improving soil health and the environment. Led by Jason Thomas.
- Total Analysis: A biosurveillance technology company with a portable tool to help detect pathogens and prevent the spread of diseases in industries such as health care, agriculture and food processing. Led by Darrell Marshall, Fatema Bhinderwala and Kristin Klaus.
- ViaSight: A mobile analytics platform that uses AI to help transportation agencies and infrastructure partners maintain roads and improve automotive safety. Led by Zikomo Fields, Jason Buck, Andrea Zechman, Mayura Gunarathne and Phil Magney.
Common threads among founders’ reasons for joining NMotion included the opportunity to strengthen their company-building knowledge, meet with business leaders accessible through the accelerator’s network and discover unforeseen pathways to scale.
Total Analysis Founder and CEO Darrell Marshall said he used to think startups were more the result of individuals just launching a company by their own bootstraps and fueling the path forward by their own ambitions. A Detroit native, he received his doctorate degree in bioanalytical chemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Appreciating the curiosity and kindness of locals and tapping into the agriculture industry in the state, he said he was drawn from Michigan to Nebraska’s growing startup ecosystem and wanted to get involved.
“I had no clue there was a whole community of support out there,” Marshall said.
