Investment

  • FindBob Closes $1.26M USD Seed Round

    FindBob Closes $1.26M USD Seed Round

    FindBob announced today the close of the seed round at over $1.25 million. The capital will allow FindBob to grow its sales and marketing teams, expand into additional U.S. markets, and execute on its multi-generational product roadmap. FindBob is the leading provider of transition management platforms for the financial services industry. It supports both the…

  • This policy helped build Missouri’s innovation districts, and it might be going away

    This policy helped build Missouri’s innovation districts, and it might be going away

    Three years ago, I took a risk and started a marketing and public relations consulting company. Starting my own firm meant giving up a steady paycheck, which was something that I (and most other people) take very seriously. Sixteen years before I became an entrepreneur, my dad had placed the same bet on himself—and it…

  • The Midwest doesn’t have enough early-stage capital – here’s one (radical) solution

    The Midwest doesn’t have enough early-stage capital – here’s one (radical) solution

    Every founder, funder, and entrepreneurial support organization in the Midwest says the exact same thing: There just isn’t enough early-stage capital. Even a city with a relatively well-developed (by non-Silicon Valley standards) venture capital scene, like St. Louis, still faces a severe shortage of seed and pre-seed funding. That problem led several organizations to create…

  • opendorse announces close of Series A funding

    opendorse announces close of Series A funding

    Lincoln startup opendorse, a leading athlete marketing platform that helps athletes share content on social media, announced yesterday its close of $3.5mm in a Series A financing round. The investment will support the company’s commitment to helping athletes maximize the value of their social audience. More than 2,400 athletes use opendorse to provide 1,500 brands…

  • Missouri Technology Corporation still investing in innovation despite tough budget

    Missouri Technology Corporation still investing in innovation despite tough budget

    Journalistic ethics require me to disclose a conflict where one exists. And there is a conflict of interest when I write about the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), a public-private partnership created by the Missouri General Assembly to invest in entrepreneurs and startups. The conflict? In 2015, my wife, Megan McKissen, was hired by St. Charles…

  • Read like a venture capitalist: Brock Smith’s resource list

    Read like a venture capitalist: Brock Smith’s resource list

    I joined Invest Nebraska in June 2015 as an associate knowing very little about venture capital.  I’d attended law school and passed the bar exam, earned an MBA, founded a successful lifestyle company, and won some high growth pitch competitions. Yet, it’s amazing how little I actually knew about doing the job I had accepted.…

  • Invest Nebraska’s Brock Smith makes move to Kansas City’s GXP Investments

    Invest Nebraska’s Brock Smith makes move to Kansas City’s GXP Investments

    Since Brock Smith joined Invest Nebraska in June 2015, the company has invested $9.2M in 40 Nebraska-based high-growth startups, as well as funded 18 companies as part of the NMotion accelerator. Those companies have raised an additional $76.3M, an amount that increases every quarter as companies such as Quantified Ag, Virtual Incision, Blue Prairie Brands,…

  • 5 Trends Transforming the World of Venture Capital

    5 Trends Transforming the World of Venture Capital

    As a designer with no formal business training, I could be the last person qualified to write about the world of venture capital. However, over the last several years of working with dozens of startups seeking seed funding and scale-ups pitching for Series A, I’ve taken it upon myself to learn the language. (along with…

  • Union Bank & Trust’s Catalyst Initiative goes to work for small businesses

    Union Bank & Trust’s Catalyst Initiative goes to work for small businesses

    Startups often find it challenging to convince traditional lenders to invest in their companies. Through an initiative called Catalyst, Union Bank & Trust in Lincoln is working to change that. “As FinTech continues to blow up, how do we use some of the new thought processes for underwriting?” said Tullen Mabbutt, Catalyst Business Banking Advocate.…

  • Omaha’s MultiMechanics Raises $1.9M in Seed Funding

    Omaha’s MultiMechanics Raises $1.9M in Seed Funding

    MultiMechanics, an Omaha startup and leading developer of virtual testing software designed to help companies reduce physical prototyping and testing, has announced it raised $1.9 million in new financing, with investments from Solvay Ventures, Anzu Partners, and Invest Nebraska. The new investment will be used to grow the company’s engineering team, further its product development…