Kelly Van Ert, foudner of Showerability, addresses the gathering during the Nov. 21, 2024, edition of Idea Pub: Morning Edition held in the atrium of UNMC’s Durham Research Center.
OMAHA, Nebraska (November 21, 2024)—UNeMed’s final 2024 installment of “Idea Pub: Morning Edition,” wrapped up last week, featuring Nate Clark, the managing director of NMotion, a Lincoln-based accelerator program focused on supporting Nebraska startup companies.
Nate Clark, Managing Director of NMotion, chats with a guest during the Nov. 21, 2024, edition of Idea Pub: Morning Edition held in the atrium of UNMC’s Durham Research Center.
Clark outlined the basic structure of NMotion’s 12-week accelerator program for burgeoning startups. The mentoring and coaching program includes about nine weeks of preparations for conversations and pitches to potential investors. That is followed by a 3-week flurry of actual meetings and sessions with investors and capital investment groups. He also introduced a participant of NMotion’s most recent cohort: Kelly Van Er, who founded Showerability, a startup specializing providing specialized equipment that helps seniors and others with physical impairments that prevent or restrict their ability to shower or bathe.
“I was a full-time occupational therapist with an idea, testing things in the garage,” she told the group. “NMotion was life changing. It helped me step away from my job and build this business.”
UNeMed, the technology transfer and commercialization office for UNMC and UNO, sponsored the event, which will continue as a regular monthly series after the New Year. The series will continue to feature guest speakers from the entrepreneurial ecosystem; and will provide UNMC and UNO innovators an opportunity to build new partnerships and allies that can help develop their innovative ideas and discoveries into products that help people.
Morning Edition will go on hiatus in December, but return on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 9-11 a.m. in the DRC II commons. The featured speaker will be announced soon.
Morning Edition will continue in 2025 on the last Thursday of every month, featuring a new speaker each time. Each Morning Edition will also feature “Office Hours,” with UNeMed and MOVE, a pre-seed and seed venture capital firm focused on investing in Nebraska technology startup companies. Office Hours creates the opportunity for faculty, students and staff to have one-on-one time with MOVE or UNeMed professionals to discuss new technologies or startup potential.
