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EntrepreneuringDays@UNL Showcases Local and National Student Innovation

The  UNL Center for Entrepreneurship at the College of Business Administration hosted the inaugural EntrepreneuringDays@UNL, March 11-13. The UNL New Venture Competition provided UNL students the opportunity to pitch their business plan and get feedback. With a grand prize of $50,000 to start the business, nearly 40 teams applied to compete with 27 teams selected. 

The undergraduate and overall grand prize winning team was James Verhoeff, a senior marketing and management major from Cortland, Neb., and Zach Christensen, a junior biochemistry major from Elkhorn, Neb., with a mobile app called Pickit. The app allows users access to deals from local merchants redeemed by scanning a card at the merchant. The merchant is charged a commission with each swipe, half of which goes to a nonprofit chosen by the consumer.

The second prize in the undergraduate competition went to SynerScan, which was pitched by Brett Byman, a 2012 CBA graduate from Omaha, Neb., and Katie Hottovy, a senior art history and criticism major from Lincoln, Neb. SynerScan tracks hand-washing compliance and provides real-time operational management for hospitals.

The third prize went to Eric Hess, a senior accounting major from Lincoln, Neb., and Nick Graef, a senior computer science major and business minor from Hickman, Neb. Their app allows golf courses to offer promotions and specials to help fill empty tee times, improving earnings and creating customer loyalty.

Winners at the graduate level
included: Elegan Instruments pitched by Thomas Frederick of Omaha, Neb., a mechanical engineering and applied mechanics major and Anna Brynskikh, Omaha, Neb., UNMC. Second place went to Aerial AgVantage pitched by Laura Stevens of Falls City, Neb., a agronomy major, and third place went to Kamterer pitched by Alex Kohel, Lincoln, Neb., also an agronomy major.

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UNL Global New Venture participants

The UNL Global New Venture competition also took place during the EntrepreneuringDays@UNL festivities and allowed students from around the world to compete in a business planning competition to get feedback and funding. The winner of the graduate competition has an automatic entry into the 2013 Global Venture Labs Investment Competition in Austin, Texas.

Winners of the UNL Global New Venture
competition were:
1st Undergraduate - Owlet Baby Monitors, Brigham Young University, $4,000
2nd Undergraduate - Inviroment LLC, Brigham Young University, $2,000
3rd Undergraduate - Imalysis, University of Houston, $1,000

1st Graduate - HomeDX, University of Arkansas, $7,000
2nd Graduate - Vacation Races, Brigham Young University, $3,000
3rd Graduate – QuorumBuy, University of Texas, $2,000

The Center for Entrepreneurship is focused on helping students learn and practice the art and science of growth. The center’s mission is to inspire and empower UNL students to become Startup People, educating them to be active in creating their own future.

Published: March 19, 2013