The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Husker Venture Fund hosted the inaugural Cornhusker Venture Capital Competition at the College of Business on Feb. 22. Five teams from Midwestern universities competed in this unique, student-led competition, evaluating real startups and making mock investment decisions judged by industry professionals.

“We created this event to provide hands-on venture capital experience for students at schools that don’t have established VC programs,” said Amir Tarkian, a junior computer science major from Lincoln, Nebraska, and one of the managing directors of the Husker Venture Fund (HVF). “There’s a lot of interest in VC in the Midwest, but not enough programs to support it. Our goal was to introduce students to the process and help them bring these ideas back to their own universities.”

The competition featured teams from Creighton University, Nebraska Wesleyan University, University of Kansas, University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wayne State University in Michigan. Each team evaluated pitches and interviewed founders from three real Nebraskan startups—Omedus (Jessica Queen), FinDaily (Luke Templin), and Pairr (Ayan Hussian)—and made presentations to judges about their a mock investment in one of the companies. Their decisions were judged and critiqued by 12 venture professionals from Nebraska and Kansas, including two Husker Venture Fund alumni.

The winning team from Wayne State University earned a $500 cash prize. The University Venture Fund Crossroads team, made up of University of Kansas students, won second place and the Entrepreneurs' Choice Award, which honored the team that built a good rapport and asked great questions during the Q&A sessions with the startup founders. Additionally, the startup Omedus received the Most Investable Startup Award as it received the most investment interest among teams in the competition.

Austin Churley, a senior finance major at Wayne State, shared that he gained more than bragging rights as the first-place winner through the competition.

“This was an amazing opportunity to dive deeper into the venture capital landscape and be able to demonstrate our knowledge in a real, practical experience. Not only was this extremely beneficial in furthering our learning as students but it was great to network with like-minded students who are clearly passionate about this industry,” he said. 

HVF, launched in 2020, is a student-led venture fund that provides early-stage capital to startups while offering Nebraska students real investment experience. The Cornhusker Venture Capital Competition was conceived and executed entirely by students.

“This was a massive logistical challenge,” Tarkian said. “We spent months reaching out to schools, securing funding, inviting startups and coordinating judges. It gave me a whole new appreciation for event planning.”

Colby Marsden, '24, returned to campus to be a judge for the competition. The venture analyst at Flyover Capital in Kansas City served as one of the Husker Venture Fund's managing directors last year and competed in a national venture capital competition.

“It was so fun to see HVF go from attending its first venture capital competition a couple of years ago to hosting its own event. Hats off to the HVF team for putting on a great competition,” she said.

The competition also serves a broader purpose—helping grow the venture capital ecosystem in Nebraska and the Midwest.

“Twenty years ago, Nebraska ranked dead last in VC funding,” Tarkian said. “Now, we’ve climbed into the mid-30s. There’s a direct connection between fostering VC interest and creating jobs, fueling local innovation and helping startups grow.”

With the success of its first Cornhusker Venture Capital Competition, HVF aims to make this a reoccurring event, bringing more students into the world of venture capital and strengthening the Midwest’s startup ecosystem.