Empowering Entrepreneurs. Strengthening Communities. Growing Nebraska’s Economy.
Since its passage in 2011, the Nebraska Business Innovation Act (BIA) has become one of the state’s most effective economic development tools providing early-stage capital, spurring innovation, and growing high-paying jobs across Nebraska. Through modest state investments, the BIA has helped hundreds of Nebraska-founded companies attract significant private capital, develop breakthrough technologies, and create thousands of jobs that otherwise would have left the state or never existed at all.
What Is the Business Innovation Act?
The BIA was enacted as part of the Nebraska Talent and Innovation Initiative to support the growth of high-potential businesses at the earliest and riskiest stages of development — when private capital is hardest to find. It provides state funds through five main programs:
- Prototype Grants – to develop proof-of-concept products.
- SBIR/STTR Matching Grants – to leverage federal innovation research funding.
- Academic R&D Grants – to connect Nebraska universities with business partners.
- Seed/Commercialization Investments – to help companies scale into the marketplace.
- Microenterprise Loans and Technical Assistance – to assist very small businesses. This program was eliminated in 2024 – dramatically decreasing tools to help rural main street businesses.
These programs are administered by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development (DED), often in partnership with Invest Nebraska, which conducts due diligence, co-invests with private funds, and monitors results.
This program has also acted as a spur for organizing purely private capital across the state including the Nebraska Angels, Grit Road Partners, Move VC, and a variety of private investors.
Together, these initiatives bridge the gap between research and commercialization — enabling Nebraska entrepreneurs to turn ideas into jobs.
Capital Deployment and Leverage
According to the 2024 Economic Impact Study by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Bureau of Business Research (BBR):
- From 2012–2023, BIA programs awarded $56.8 million in state funding.
- Participating businesses generated $191.9 million in matching funds at the time of award.
- These firms subsequently raised an additional $654.1 million in private investment — a leverage ratio of $11.52 in private capital for every $1 of state support.
- Companies supported through the BIA have already generated $903.2 million in revenue — equivalent to $15.90 in sales for every $1 of state funding.
This means that for a relatively small public investment, Nebraska businesses have raised hundreds of millions in private dollars, built real products, and entered global markets.
In total, the BIA has supported nearly 5,000 jobs statewide when including multiplier effects, contributing $321.8 million in annual wages and $640.6 million in annual value-added economic output to Nebraska’s economy.
These are not low-wage positions — they are high-skill, high-wage jobs in sectors like software, bioscience, manufacturing, and agriculture technology that anchor talent and innovation in Nebraska.
Why the BIA Works
The Business Innovation Act succeeds where traditional economic development programs often fall short:
- It focuses on early-stage risk.
Most economic incentives reward companies after they expand. The BIA invests before growth helping startups reach the point where they can attract additional funding and hire employees. - It leverages private capital.
Every BIA grant requires a dollar-for-dollar (or greater) private match, ensuring companies have skin in the game and maximizing return on taxpayer investment. - It builds long-term capacity.
By funding product development, prototypes, and commercialization, the program helps create enduring companies rather than one-time projects. - It spreads opportunity statewide.
BIA-supported companies exist in every region — from Omaha’s software startups to agricultural innovations in Scottsbluff, Kearney, and Norfolk. - It drives measurable results.
Independent analyses show a clear pattern of growth: higher returns per dollar of investment, rising wages, and expanding job counts every two years since the program’s inception.
Illustration #1: CompanyCam (Lincoln, NE)
CompanyCam, a Lincoln-based software company, is one of Nebraska’s most visible BIA success stories. Founded in 2014 by contractor Luke Hansen, the company began with a simple idea: create an app that allows construction crews to take, organize, and share job-site photos instantly.
In its earliest days, CompanyCam applied for a Prototype Grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development through the BIA program. That initial funding — a modest $50,000 prototype grant — helped the founders develop and test a minimum viable product. With this proof of concept, the company was able to raise private capital and scale its product across the Midwest.
Today, CompanyCam employs hundreds of Nebraskans and serves tens of thousands of contractors nationwide. It has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the Midwest. In a 2023 interview, Hansen reflected on the state’s role:
“Without Nebraska’s early innovation funding, we simply couldn’t have built CompanyCam here. That grant gave us breathing room to test, learn, and eventually build something that scaled beyond our expectations.”
CompanyCam demonstrates how a small, well-placed public investment can ignite exponential private growth. The company now returns millions in wages, taxes, and economic activity to Nebraska each year.
Illustration #2: Sentinel Ag (Cozad, NE)
While much attention goes to urban startups, the Business Innovation Act has been equally transformative for rural Nebraska. One example is Sentinel Ag, a precision agriculture company headquartered in Cozad, which develops sensors and analytics tools to help farmers detect crop stress and optimize irrigation.
Founded by two University of Nebraska graduates with ties to Dawson County, Sentinel Ag received a Prototype Grant in 2021 to develop a working sensor network. Later, it received a Commercialization Investment from the Nebraska Seed Fund (Invest Nebraska) to expand manufacturing and deploy units in the field.
These funds allowed the company to hire local engineers, contract with Nebraska manufacturers, and validate its product on farms across the Platte Valley. Today, Sentinel Ag’s technology is being used by growers managing thousands of acres of corn and soybeans, providing data-driven insights that save water and improve yields.
A farmer participating in Sentinel’s pilot program said:
“We’re catching irrigation problems days before we could see them with the naked eye. This isn’t just tech; it’s helping us make better decisions every single day.”
By supporting companies like Sentinel Ag, the BIA ensures that innovation is not confined to Lincoln or Omaha. It anchors advanced technology businesses in rural Nebraska, diversifying the local economy and keeping the benefits of innovation close to the state’s agricultural roots.
The Bottom Line
Over the past decade, the Nebraska Business Innovation Act has:
- Turned $56 million in state funding into more than $1.17 billion in annual economic output.
- Created nearly 5,000 jobs statewide with wages well above the state average.
- Enabled Nebraska entrepreneurs to attract over $650 million in private investment.
- Fostered companies – from Lincoln’s CompanyCam to Cozad’s Sentinel Ag – that showcase how innovation and entrepreneurship can thrive right here at home.
Conclusion: A Proven, High-Return Investment for Nebraska
The Business Innovation Act is not a subsidy; it’s a strategic investment in Nebraska’s economic future. It has consistently demonstrated one of the highest returns on investment of any state economic development program.
By continuing and expanding the BIA, Nebraska can ensure that the next generation of entrepreneurs in technology, bioscience, manufacturing, and agriculture have the resources they need to start, stay, and grow in Nebraska.
