By Caleb Culpepper (Empowered by AI)
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) and its surrounding ecosystem have produced some of the country’s most innovative companies in sports technology. Now the community is exporting that talent – building leading companies not just in Nebraska, but across the U.S.
One example is Dropback, a company founded by a Columbus, Nebraska native. Co‑founded by UNL alumni Luke Bogus and Nick Siscoe, Dropback is bringing pro-grade analytics and roster modeling software to college athletic programs nationwide.
The two founders met at the Raikes School, and while they built a friendship, they never imagined starting a company together. But, as stated in this fabulous May 2025 interview, they stayed in touch and “riffed” about Dropback for years.
Dropback’s platform helps athletic departments navigate the complex new realities of the revenue-sharing era, including NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) regulations. By providing tools for financial modeling, roster simulations, and athlete valuation, Dropback equips programs with insights traditionally only available to professional sports front offices. “We learned to understand users, and build something that’s a painkiller, not a vitamin… We didn’t get attached to an idea. It was humbling to know what’s not working,” said Bogus, reflecting on the product mindset he developed at the Raikes School.
The Nebraska sports tech ecosystem played a key role in shaping Dropback’s founders. Hudl, founded in Lincoln in 2006, demonstrated that elite sports technology could be built locally, blending engineering talent and a deep understanding of athletics. Alumni from UNL were recruited into Hudl’s early teams, exposing them to product development in a fast-growing sports environment.
Similarly, Opendorse, co-founded by UNL alumni Blake Lawrence and Adi Kunalic, showed how technology could connect athletes and brands in the NIL era. Their success reinforced a belief among Nebraska founders that world-class sports tech startups could emerge outside traditional tech hubs. These influences were present throughout Bogus’ and Siscoe’s time at UNL.
For Bogus and Siscoe, the Raikes School provided the perfect mix of technical skill and business acumen. They gained experience in programming, product design, and project-based learning. These are the baseline tools that would become critical when tackling college athletics’ operational challenges. After graduation, Bogus gained product leadership experience at Microsoft and a life sciences startup, while Siscoe focused on engineering. Yet their shared passion for sports tech brought them back together to launch Dropback.
The duo took a bold step by applying to Y Combinator, submitting their application just an hour before the deadline with only one customer conversation under their belt — an NIL collective in North Carolina. Nick Siscoe recalls, “You realize that… there’s nothing stopping you from starting a company and going the full distance… we didn’t have any of that [elite pedigree], we were just along for the ride.” Acceptance into the Winter 2024 batch provided mentorship, credibility, and early connections that helped Dropback secure a $1.6 million pre-seed round, including investment from Move VC, the Omaha based seed investor.
Today, Dropback is helping Power 4 college programs across multiple sports optimize rosters and compensation strategies. The company demonstrates how Nebraska-born technical talent, trained at UNL, and entrepreneurial grit, can scale nationally. Dropback is not only a Nebraska success story; it’s proof that regional innovation can influence and reshape the future of collegiate athletics across the United States.
