Nebraska Accelerator NMotion Announces 7 Startups Chosen for Summer 2014 Cohort

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NmotionadNMotion announced the seven startups accepted into the 2014 Summer program last week.

Four of the teams are from Lincoln, where the accelerator is based. The other 3 will be moving to Lincoln to participate in the program.

“We’re excited about working with this group of strong and diverse founders. Applications were up 80% from the previous year and included applications from all over the world, so it was tough making the final cut.” said Brian Ardinger, managing director of NMotion.

Because of Lincoln’s growing list of sports-related startups and mentors, including Hudl, opendorse, Lockr, EliteForm, Hail Varsity, Bulu Box, Powderhook and others, NMotion actively targeted sports-focused startups to bring into the program.

“We think density is important in a growing startup community since it allows for greater collaboration and connections. At NMotion we wanted to actively look for ways to capitalize on our community’s strengths and build on them,” Ardinger said.

Co-founder of Turnstile Cards, Zach Sanderson, “We’re excited to come from one supportive Silicon Prairie community (Iowa City/Cedar Rapids) to another, especially one with a sports startup legacy.”

NMotion’s 2014 cohort also includes startups in agriculture, music, and digital marketing.

Like other accelerators, NMotion startups receive seed capital, coworking space, and access to a pool of resources including over 100 mentors, training, and developer and designer talent. This year’s program starts on June 2, and each startup will use the 100 days of the program to work with teams and mentors to test and validate the market, build and prototype their solutions, and prepare for a demo day showcase to be held on September 9th at Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln.

Companies also receive $15,000 of seed capital in exchange for a six percent equity stake. This funding was provided by Invest Nebraska Corporation along with members of the Nebraska Angels organization and individual accredited investors. Program sponsors include the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, Union Bank and Trust, NUtech Ventures, Nebraska Innovation Campus, and the University of Nebraska along with many other companies and organizations.

NMotion’s 2014 Summer cohort includes:

Adolade – Location-based mobile rewards platform: Ryan Cooper, founder of Golf Status, is creating a location-based rewards company that helps app and device makers monetize their users’ moments of achievement, loyalty, and influence.

Athletepreneur – Online network & marketplace for athletes: Co-founder Mike Fingado is coming from Seattle and his co-founder Brian Dzingai, who is a former Olympian from Zimbabwe, will be coming from Chicago. They are building a professional network and lifestyle brand for collegiate and professional athletes.

Commissioner.io – Sports league management platform: Kunwar Gill and Richard Bansal are coming from Toronto, Canada and are working on a sports league management platform for recreational leagues and their players.

DigiWidgets – Plug-in graphic editing engine for websites: Fresh from their win at the JumpStart Challenge, Lincoln entrepreneurs Stacy Carlson (Gotta Pixel) and Carl Steffen (Stone Fin Development) formed DigiWidgets as a plug-in graphic editing engine for websites that empowers users to create, manipulate and sell digital media.

MusicSpoke – Music publishing platform & marketplace for composers: The Lincoln startup MusicSpoke founded by Jennifer Rosenblatt and Kurt Knecht is a cloud-based platform where composers, conductors, and performers can connect and share new sheet music and performances.

PixoBot – Software platform for robotics in agriculture: Vishal Singh heads up Pixobot, a software platform utilizing drones and data to improve agricultural efficiency.

Turnstile Cards – Mobile fan loyalty platform: Zach Sanderson and Jason Kristufek represent Turnstile Cards. Turnstile Cards won a recent Startup Weekend competition and are coming to NMotion from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Turnstile Cards is recreating the nostalgia of the baseball card in a mobile marketing platform for sports teams to connect with fans outside the stadium

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