Prairie Portraits: Kellee Mikuls

Open Range shares latest Techstars cohort and a new partnership with First National Bank of Omaha

The Omaha-based nonprofit supports the startup hubs of Greater Omaha and Lincoln. It has recently announced the cohort members representing Nebraska for the Techstars Founder Catalyst Global Fall 2026 Program. This comes as Open Range partners with FNBO to create future opportunities for startups.

Nurse, Ph.D., academic and entrepreneur: Marcia Shade is building Voice-It to explain pain with A I

Pain doesn’t fit neatly on the 1-10 scale that medical professionals have used for decades. So Voice-It is building a secure AI transcription app to record the nuances of patients’ pain and summarize them for clinicians who are short on time. Better knowledge, founder and CEO Marcia Shade hopes, can lead to better treatment and quality of life.

Nebraska and Iowa are in line for up to $160 million for bioinnovation. Here’s what startups should know

The NSF RuralSTAMINA Biomanufacturing Engine is a partnership between about 70 different organizations in Iowa and Nebraska to develop an innovation ecosystem around biomanufacturing. Starting with $15 million, the engine will invest in startups, university faculty and workforce development.

Prairie Portraits: Cory Scott

Cory Scott shares his entrepreneurial journey, offering candid advice on investor networking, the necessity of having backup plans, and the drive required to overcome significant business challenges.

SPN Exclusive: An early look at MCC’s completed $3 million biotech lab

As part of Metro Community College’s new biotech program, the college invested in a lab to train students that is based on real bioscience labs. The workforce development program is supported by industry partners in Nebraska, who have been impressed with how MCC has listened to companies and their needs.