Five start ups selected for LaunchLNK 2022

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) has selected five local start ups to participate in the LaunchLNK program for 2022.

Business owners participating in the program will receive a $25,000 grant, connections to potential sources of additional capital, and local mentors.

LPED created LaunchLNK to help scalable, high-growth startups grow in Lincoln.  This is the fourth year of the program.

Representatives from LPED, Nebraska Angels, Invest Nebraska, NMotion, and Nelnet selected this year’s participants from a pool of nearly 100 applicants.

“The applicant pool for LaunchLNK continues to be very strong and the process gets more competitive each year,” said Christina Oldfather, LPED director of innovation and entrepreneurship. “This is a direct result of the work being done across our startup ecosystem to find and help more founders and more companies.”

The 2022 cohort includes:

• FanWord: An athlete branding and storytelling company founded by Christopher Aumueller that specializes in building Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) solutions to help student-athletes grow, protect, and monetize their personal brands.
• Senior Care Finder: A nationwide directory of all senior care services founded by Christie and Heath Stukenholtz.
• Sentinel Fertigation: An agricultural technology company founded by Jackson Stansell that uses multispectral imagery to anticipate crop nitrogen needs and provide data-driven fertigation recommendations to farmers.
• Tiiga: An all natural, plant-based drink mix that provides hydration, and supports immune and gut health created by Jeff and Katy Tezak and Harrouna Malgoubri.
• Little Movements Apparel: A sports wear company founded by Marissa Whalen and Lyndsey Haag that focuses on providing for women of all sizes.

“I am thrilled to work with this talented group of founders to help them grow their companies,” Oldfather said.

The LaunchLNK program has provided funding for 20 different startups in Lincoln who have collectively raised over $80 million in capital.

For more information on the program, visit www.launchlnk.com or contact Oldfather at coldfather@selectlincoln.org.