North Iowa entrepreneur takes home win from 2023 Venture School Launch Day Competition
18 Jul 2023
News
Mary Jo Vrba of Mason City, IA, took home Third Place at the 2023 University of Iowa Venture School Launch Day which was held Thursday, June 8, 2023. Eleven teams from across the state of Iowa competed in the event which was held at EntreFEST, a two-day entrepreneurial conference in Iowa City, IA.
Mary Jo Vrba won the Third Place prize of $5,000 for her business, Mags & Lu, which provides full-service dog boarding and daycare. First place and $15,000 was won by SimplSupport (Lori Palmer); Second place and $10,000 was won by Autistic & Loved (Dr. Kit Evans-Ford). There were two finalists, Portico (Brian Nigg) and Jolt Education (Jade Peterson), and six semifinalists, that received $1,000 each. The semi-finalists were Retrofit Electric (Oscar Madong of Mason City), A Kneaded Break (Britt Bock of Charles City), Akademi Arts Progress (Alan Murdock), Level Up Bouldering (Paul Altaver), Rose and Oak Athletics (Ellen Franklin), Payroll Vault (Aaron Bontrager).