The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Entrepreneurship hosted the 37th annual New Venture Competition, a business plan pitch event with $65,000 in funding in prizes, on April 16 and 18. With 48 teams representing nine colleges and 44 majors at the university competing in a bracket format, Eduardo Sicilia Ayala with 2%Football took first place and a $15,000 cash prize.
Sicilia Ayala, a senior Clifton Builders management and marketing major from Cancún, Mexico, founded his startup as a freshman and has been a consistent participant and contributor to the university’s entrepreneurial community. 2%Football provides scouting reports for football teams in the United States and Mexico. His pitch included integrating artificial intelligence into the report-making process to further automate and scale the startup.
Second place ($12,500) — FuturHerd Solutions, Brooke Parrish, graduate student in animal science from Elmwood, Illinois. FuturHerd Solutions is a livestock tech startup addressing prevalent caretaker challenges, and it features a Nursery Nanny robot.
Third place ($10,000) — TeachFront, Lena Lankas, sophomore computer science major from Lincoln, and Peyton Peck, sophomore computer science major from Overland Park, Kansas. The students, part of the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, aim to provide educators with tools to implement mastery grading in their classrooms.
Fourth place ($7,500) — InfoFilm, Madison Kreifels, junior agricultural and environmental sciences communication major from Syracuse. InfoFilm is an agricultural communications business with a vision to reverse the growing gap in knowledge between the agriculture industry and its consumers.
Former New Venture Competition finalists Brooke Bode with Cattle Kettle, Bridget Peterkin and Tristan Curd with Dyslexico, Maci Wilson with INFR (formerly pitched with Beacon) and Abby Miller with Pat on Tap competed in the bracket.
The judges awarded the $15,000 prize to Pat on Tap, a mobile bar and photo booth for various gatherings in Omaha, Lincoln and surrounding areas.
“I really care about people and the moments that we spend together,” said Miller, a senior animal science major from Mead. “Being a photographer, I got to go to a lot of events, and now I turn them into great events by hosting tap trucks at them. We’re now growing Nebraska’s first tap truck fleet and scaling the business in the Midwest.”
Students took advantage of the center’s offerings to prepare for the competition. Sixty percent of teams consulted with center faculty and staff through workshops, one-on-one coaching or classes.
