The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED), a division of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce and a public-private collaboration charged with fulfilling Lincoln’s economic development goals, announces the five local startups selected to participate in the LaunchLNK program for 2023.

Now in its fifth year, LaunchLNK was created by the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) to help scalable, high-growth startups thrive in Lincoln. The cohort receives five grants totaling $125,000, other services and aid, connections to potential sources of additional capital and local mentors who may become early customers or partners.

This innovative program leverages best practices of entrepreneurially focused economic development. By design it fits into the landscape of other resources available to startups and helps create a robust business ecosystem.

Kathy I. Andersen, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at LPED comments, “By creating an environment that is conducive to entrepreneurial success, communities can create a more resilient economy and foster innovation. It’s a virtuous cycle. This type of economic development can provide a strong foundation for local businesses and startups, which can then be used to create a more vibrant and resilient startup ecosystem.”

This year’s cohort was selected from a competitive pool of 68 applicants by representatives from across the entrepreneurial ecosystem. That selection committee included Brian Ardinger (Founder of NMotion, Director of Innovation at Nelnet); Stephanie Luebbe (Executive Director of the Nebraska Angels); Vishal Singh (Founder of Quantified Ag (acquired) & Advisor); Ben Williamson (Principal & General Counsel at Invest Nebraska); Emily Kist (Corporate Analyst at Nelnet); and Maria Heyen (Managing Director of the Husker Venture Fund).

The 2023 cohort includes: 

• BovEye, founded by Andrew Minarick, uses remote sensing technologies to help agricultural lenders assess and audit asset quality quickly and efficiently.
• Curbside solves a problem in a HIPAA regulated industry, allowing users to render files and share them with other specialists, alongside audio/video explaining diagnoses and recommendations. Founders are Matt Secoske and John Meyer.
• Nave Analytics, Inc. offers data enabled digital tools for ag professionals to help advise farmers on efficient irrigation water use. They use a unique technology that fuses satellite signals with telemetry from pivots to deliver solutions that are scalable and cost effective. The company is co-founded by Jessica Korinek, Val Kovalsky and Bradley Griggs.
• InforMedic is a platform that accelerates the life insurance underwriting process through medical record summarization and automated decision making. Tan Phan and Pranav Rajan are the founders.
• Cattle Kettle, LLC founded by Brooke Bode, Seth Daup, and Jace Ruth, is a livestock management company that is revolutionizing the industry by offering a simple, yet effective solution to save ranchers time and money. With Cattle Kettle, ranchers can effortlessly monitor and regulate the water temperature, inflow rate and level of their cattle tanks through a user-friendly app on their phone or a website on their computer. Empowering these individuals with the ability to control their cattle tanks in real-time, Cattle Kettle is dedicated to improving the lives of ranchers. 

With the addition of the latest cohort, the LaunchLNK program has provided seed funding for 24 different startups in Lincoln who have gone on to employ 50 people and additionally raise over $85 million in capital, contributing to the startup and Lincoln ecosystem. 

To stay up to date on announcements regarding LaunchLNK, including the next round of application submissions, follow @StartupLNK on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. More information on the program can be found at www.launchlnk.com. 

For more information, contact Kathy I. Andersen, Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, at (402) 436-2374 or kandersen@selectlincoln.org.