Governor Jim Pillen announced Tuesday the inaugural Nebraska Governor’s New Venture Competition, a new initiative providing students an opportunity to develop and pitch their own business ideas. Financial awards will be given next year to the top three finalists.

“Novel business ventures have the potential to help grow our state and fuel our workforce. Young people are often the ones who create new and innovative ideas. This event will help incentivize and reward that kind of entrepreneurial thinking,” said Gov. Pillen.

Gov. Pillen announced the New Venture Competition from Hudl’s international headquarters in Lincoln – a fitting backdrop, given that the startup was the brainchild of three University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) students back in 2006, including CEO David Graff.

“Business plan competitions were a key accelerant in Hudl’s early days. The application process forced us to get our plans and models down succinctly on paper. The questions asked and the holes poked by judges helped us refine our model and address its weaknesses,” explained Graff. “The prize money was critical in allowing us to fund a small office space, travel to meet with prospective customers and hire interns from the University of Nebraska before needing to raise outside capital. On top of that, the mentoring by Nebraska’s business community helped us better navigate our startup years and successfully scale to a global sports tech company,”

The Nebraska Governor’s New Venture Competition also features a mentoring component. The state’s ecosystem of startup founders, funders, and service providers will support the young teams through judging at the competition, as well as provide general technical assistance.

“The most sustainable way to grow Nebraska is from the ground up, through homegrown entrepreneurship,” said DED Director K.C. Belitz. “The Nebraska Governor’s New Venture Competition will connect aspiring entrepreneurs to Nebraskans who’ve led successful startups. Through these relationships, students will gain the feedback and the encouragement needed to turn their embryonic business ideas into market-ready solutions. We look forward to kindling the entrepreneurial spirit of Nebraska through this competition.”

The Nebraska Governor’s New Venture Competition is designed for student-led businesses at the ideation and pre-seed stages.  Students must be undergraduate or graduate level and attending a Nebraska post-secondary educational institution at the time of application. Applicants must designate how their business falls into one of the seven industry tracks: Agtech, Fintech/Insurtech, Cleantech, Advanced Manufacturing, Biotech, Emerging Media Arts, and SportsTech.

The very first applications to the program are now being accepted online at: https://negovnewventure.com/. The deadline is Dec. 1.

Semi-finalists will participate in a virtual pitch competition later in December. From there, six to eight teams will be selected to give an in-person presentation to judges on the afternoon of Feb. 1, 2024. The Nebraska Governor’s New Venture Competition finals will be held in conjunction with the Nebraska State Chamber annual meeting. The top three finalists will receive prize awards of $20,000, $15,000, and $10,000.

“It’s only fitting that as Nebraska inducts new business leaders into the Business Hall of Fame at the State Chamber banquet on Feb. 1, we also energize the future business leaders at our colleges and universities,” said Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce.

“This event will provide a meaningful learning experience to those students who are interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial opportunity now or at some point in their careers,” said Gov. Pillen. “We want young people to tap into their talents and we want to give them the support needed to let their dreams grow.”

The Nebraska Governor’s New Venture Competition is being led by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce, NPPD, and Invest Nebraska with funding from participating sponsors. To learn more about the Competition, visit: https://negovnewventure.com/.