Omaha Startups Celebrate Midwest Madness 2025 Victory
- Charlie Cuddy
- Jul 1
- 4 min read
A Bracket Run, A Community Rally, and a Win for the Whole Nebraska Ecosystem
Last week, Omaha’s startup community showed up in full force as the M25 team traveled to town to help celebrate our city’s victory in the Midwest Startup's 2025 Midwest Madness tournament.
Founders, funders, and ecosystem champions gathered at Millwork Commons for an evening filled with energy, pride, and well-earned pizza & beers, marking a moment of recognition for the growing momentum in Nebraska’s startup scene.
This win wasn’t just about a bracket or a trophy. It was about a city that’s been quietly (and not-so-quietly) building for years. Both Omaha and Lincoln have been climbing the annual midwest startup city rankings over the past couple of years. The celebration last week was a brief highlight of the collaborative efforts taking shape across the state. It was about the power of community-led ecosystems to rise, thrive, and compete on a national stage.
If you are unfamiliar, Midwest Madness is a bracket-style competition hosted by Midwest Startups and M25 that pits 64 top startup cities across the region in a public vote for the title of Midwest Startup Champion. It’s a celebration of ecosystem pride, but also a window into where real momentum is building. And this year, Omaha came out on top!
This is the 5th year of the tournament and the champions now include:
2021: Bloomington, IN
2022: Columbia, MO
2023: Bloomington, IN (repeat champ)
2024: State College, PA
2025: Omaha, NE
Omaha’s Path to Victory
From the first round to the championship matchup, Omaha (a 1-seed in Region D) was fully engaged.
Here's a quick breakdown of the bracket run:
Round of 64: defeated St. Cloud, MN
Round of 32: defeated Grand Rapids, MI
Sweet 16: defeated Ann Arbor, MI by 100+ votes
Elite Eight: won by just 10 votes over Indianapolis, IN
Final Four: rolled past Madison, WI by 100+ votes
Championship: edged Fargo, ND with 53% of 1,960 total votes
Each round brought tighter margins, deeper rivalries, and a growing wave of support from Omaha’s founders, operators, and champions. The final showdown capped a six-round campaign with over 13,800 total votes cast across the tournament. This type of engagement over the course of several weeks is a phenomenal opportunity for city leaders across the region to be aware of each other's work. The friendly competition has already led to collaborative and co-investment opportunities across cities in the Midwest!
Lincoln’s Final Four Finish
Omaha wasn’t the only Nebraska city making noise. Lincoln, NE made an impressive run of its own as a 3-seed in Region C, knocking off:
Des Moines, IA
Sioux Falls, SD
St. Louis, MO
...before falling to Fargo, ND in the Final Four.
With strong support from ecosystem anchors like Invest Nebraska, The Combine AgTech Incubator, and the UNL Center for Entrepreneurship, Lincoln continues to be a force in Nebraska’s innovation landscape.
A Startup Celebration at Millwork Commons
The tournament culminated in a celebratory event on June 25 at The Dock at Millwork Commons. Over 100 of Omaha’s founder community gathered to commemorate the win and reflect on what it represents: growing national visibility, increased momentum, and a deepening network of support.
Each year, the Community Champion Award, presented by M25 and Midwest Startups, goes to the person or group that most passionately represents their city. Not only during the Midwest Madness tournament, but throughout the year in support of their startup ecosystem.
In 2025, that recognition was awarded to the team behind Nebraska Startup Academy (NSA) and MOVE Venture Capital for their outstanding contributions to founder education, community momentum, and early-stage capital access. The trophy was handed off and the challenge of being the first back-to-back champion was thrown down.
The Startup Academy and MOVE have built critical infrastructure for startups across Nebraska hosting regular gatherings, pitch days, delivering accessible curriculum, and unlocking capital opportunities for early-stage founders. Their collaborative work across multiple university systems, regional corporations, local philanthropy, and the midwest startup community has positioned Omaha and Nebraska more broadly as an emerging national hub for innovation, and a place where startups thrive by putting founders first.
M25: Tournament Host & Ecosystem Partner
While M25 powers the Midwest Madness tournament each year, their impact on the region is far deeper. M25 has written checks into multiple Nebraska based startups, including co-investing with MOVE in Omaha-based Workshop, a leading internal communications startup.
Their partners have also collaborated with Nebraska Startup Academy to develop curriculum for early-stage founders, including the popular “Breaking Down a Term Sheet” module, which simplifies venture deal structures for new entrepreneurs.
M25’s commitment to community building, founder education, capital access, and long-term collaboration makes them one of the most active and ecosystem-aligned firms in the Midwest. You can learn more about their portfolio and regional thesis at m25vc.com.
What’s Next for Startups in Omaha?
Omaha and Lincoln's founder momentum continues to accelerate thanks to the work of several organizations who have been putting in the hard work for years. Newer organizations like Nebraska Startup Academy and MOVE Venture Capital are looking to build on that moment. And the energy is only growing with additionaly initiatives like the Catalyst building at UNMC, Open Range, and the recently announced Techstars Omaha programs are adding even more fuel to the region’s innovation engine.
Omaha isn’t just celebrating a win, it’s preparing and building what comes next. Hopefully that includes another visit from the M25 team in 2026 for a second trophy presentation.
Are you a founder interested in joining the 450+ members of the Nebraska Startup Academy? Sign up at nestartupacademy.org to stay up to date on the latest happenings in the area and actively grow with other entrepreneurs in the Midwest.
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