Twin brothers Joe and Matt Brugger of rural Albion were grand prize winners in a competition for student entrepreneurs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s annual New Venture Competition April 3-4.
The competition featured more than 40 student teams pitching business plans to a panel of judges who included local entrepreneurs, Nebraska Business alumni and industry professionals. Four teams were selected for final presentations, seeking a share of more than $75,000 in prize money.
Presentations ranged from a startup aiming to provide early cancer detection to an animal welfare project looking to save lives through data-management software.
“The level of excitement the students showed, along with the time and effort they put in to represent themselves and the university, blew me away,” said Sam Nelson, director of the university’s Center for Entrepreneurship. “We saw computer science majors pair up with a business student in NovocAI’s cancer detection project. It’s great to see that recognition of the value of collaboration because, at the end of the day, that is a key component of entrepreneurship.”
Grand prize honors went to Joseph and Matthew Brugger, brothers who run Upstream Farms, through which they sell agricultural products, provide consulting and offer seed solutions to farmers.
Read the complete story in the April 11 Albion News & Petersburg Press, Print and E-Editions.
