This past Friday night, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) students brought their ideas out in force, from an engineering firm to a software as a service (SaaS) startup monitoring and limiting children's internet access. In all, nine students representing eight teams across two divisions – four undergraduate and four graduate – gave 10-minute pitches and answered 10 minutes worth of judges' questions. The event, the 12th Annual UNL Venture Plan Competition (below, photo by Danny Schreiber), awarded $1,000 to each division winner. When all was said and done, including one-on-one, judge-competitor feedback sessions, the SaaS startup, Kid Safe-D Net, and an accounting firm, Zachary L. Jelinek, P.C., were announced the undergraduate and graduate winners, respectively. (See video above for quick pitches and interviews.) In addition to taking home the cash prize, the graduate winner also earned a spot in the UNL-hosted Innovation Challenge Competition next March, a competition which will bring in competitors from across the U.S. and award considerable more prize cash and incentives. (Photo Above: A welcome sign greets competitors and attendees to the event venue, the City Campus Union at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Photo by Danny Schreiber.) Although Friday's competition only featured one idea that is in our primary coverage scope of tech startups, it was, as it always is, powerful to attend an event in which students present their hopeful businesses. More and more we're being turned on to events such as these and we hope in the years to come we can not only cover an increasing amount but also follow companies as they emerge out of them. Take this event for example, Agile Sports, better known by their main product of Hudl, made their pitch at this contest in 2006. Four years later, they were named to Inc. Magazine's "30 Under 30" list. To learn more about last Friday's competition, the organizing team behind it, which was mainly composed of students, and the upcoming Innovation Challenge, I spoke with the Venture Plan Competition project leader Cassie Person, a UNL senior. In addition to her role in the event, Person is also the president of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) at UNL. To earn the opportunity to pitch in last Friday's competition, a qualifying event took place last Monday, November 29th, in which 20 undergraduate and nine graduate students pitched for a chance at the championship. The final eight who competed last Friday are the following (descriptions provided by the competition):

Graduate Competitors:

• Zachary L. Jelinek, Zachary L. Jelinek, P.C. – An accounting firm in Alliance with a special emphasis in agriculture
• Mike Placke, Water Resource Engineering – An engineering consulting company specializing in water resources in Nebraska
• Morgan Jenkins, Peony Floral Design Studio, Inc. – A floral design studio located in La Jolla, California.
• Elizabeth Rapp, NE Speed – An athletic training company committed to providing each athlete with an innovative workout to improve speed, strength, power, agility, form, body mechanics and ultimately help prevent injury.

Undergraduate Competitors:

• Jennifer Schoen, Tucker Hills – A cozy Nebraska City tasting room featuring quality Nebraska farm wines and craft beers.
• Aaron Sedivy, Green Trees: The Sustainable Choose and Cut Christmas Trees – A choose and cut Christmas tree farm located between Denver and Boulder that provides delivery and removal services, hay rack rides, holiday merchandise and more.
• Katie Wiepen, Blooming Heights Nursery – A full service landscape nursery/education firm located in Yankton, South Dakota.
• Alex DeBrie & Mike Ritner, Kid Safe-D Net – A software as a service providing an easy tool for parents to protect, control and monitor their child's internet access & activity. Also restricts who is allowed to contact the child.

The students were judged on three parts: the overall written business plan, the poise and professionalism of their pitch, and the perceived viability of the venture. Judging the competition was:

Undergraduate Judges

• Mike Blackmon, Prudential Ambassador Real Estate
• Chris Peterson, Southeast Community College
• Gregg Christensen, Nebraska Department of Education
• Doris Cook, Retired Former Entrepreneur

Graduate Judges

• Craig Willeke, Willeke Financial Group
• Carly Cummings-Grabner, Hyp-Yoga
• Andy Hearn, Rex, Inc.
• Tim Mittan, Southeast Community College Entrepreneurship Center

To learn more about the UNL Venture Plan Competition, visit cba.unl.edu/outreach/ent. Here are a number of photos I shot throughout the event of these to-be entrepreneurs. Make sure to scroll down for the classic big check photos: The posted schedule for the graduate division. Mike Placke presents Water Resource Engineering in the graduate division. Placke answers judges' questions. Katie Wiepen presents Blooming Heights Nursery in the undergraduate division. Morgan Jenkins presents Peony Floral Design Studio, Inc. via Skype in the graduate division. Mike Ritner co-presents Kid Safe-D Net in the undergraduate division. Alex DeBrie co-presents Kid Safe-D Net in the undergraduate division. The attendees and competitors gather for the winner announcements. Kathleen Thornton (middle), associate director of UNL's Center for Entrepreneurship, presents the $1,000 novelty check to undergraduate winners DeBrie and Ritner of Kid Safe-D Net. Thornton presents the $1,000 novelty check to graduate winner Zachary Jelinek of Zachary L. Jelinek, P.C.