Casper Programs Ignite Entrepreneurial Ambition

courtesy of Josh Yarger

Central Wyoming is known as an incubator for new companies, and that is especially true since the introduction of the Casper Start-Up Challenge.

Launching in Casper in 2016, the annual challenge lets entrepreneurs pitch seasoned corporate leaders with their best cases for funding new business ideas.

“We get as many as 40 companies to apply each year,” says Eric Schlidt, Director of the Casper Start-Up Challenge. “We’re looking for high-growth companies that have the potential to create jobs.”

Courtesy of Infinite Outdoors

The startup program not only provides $50,000 in seed money to the winner but also a platform to showcase the contestants’ ideas.

“We’re really just seeing a huge growth in the quality and breadth of these entrepreneurs, and they are thinking much further ahead,” says Schlidt, who is also a managing partner for Breakthrough Venture Capital, an investor in emerging companies.

Here are a few success stories of entrepreneurs who’ve taken their innovations to a new level after winning the Casper Start-Up Challenge.

Disa Technologies

Greyson Buckingham and John Lee founded Disa Technologies. The duo wanted to develop their idea for a cleaner mineral extraction and reclamation process.

“We ran for the Casper Start-Up Challenge in 2017 after putting in our life savings,” Buckingham says. “We didn’t take a salary for two years.”

Their sacrifice paid off. After several successful funding rounds, the company raised $20 million in capital and expanded its team from eight to 30 employees.

Buckingham calls the region “an amazing spot” for the company’s headquarters, with lower land costs and energy industry infrastructure that is lacking on either coast.

There’s also a business-friendly attitude in Wyoming that he finds immensely beneficial.

“From the time we started, people lent us equipment and shop space. We had no money, and they really wanted to help out. Hopefully, as our company grows, we can pay that back to others,” Buckingham says.

Infinite Outdoors

Attending the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, led Sam Seeton to a business venture based more on his above-ground interests.

“I started it with college buddies interested in outdoor adventure and conservation experiences,” Seeton says.

Courtesy of Infinite Outdoors

Their concept was to build a web and phone application linking private landowners with outdoor enthusiasts interested in hunting or fishing on their property. In 2022, they got a chance to compete for the Casper Start-Up Challenge and took home the $50,000 winning prize.

Today, Infinite Outdoors lists 300,000 acres of private land available for designated recreational activities, which landowners specify. Property owners also earn fees and receive services from an Infinite Outdoors biologist who works to ensure that each site is maintained through ecologically sound practices.

Meanwhile, app users pay a $40 per month fee to get detailed mapping and recreational information on their phones.

“It’s really the only mobile app access like this available,” Seeton says.

NU Locating

The seed for NU Locating was planted in 2016, born from a conversation between college graduate Ily Nunn and her husband. 

“He’s an engineer and was always running into trouble with utility lines on his projects, so he planted the idea of starting a utility-locating service,” Nunn says. “It’s a service that is needed anytime that anybody is breaking ground. They have to make sure it is safe and clear, so this has turned out to be quite the booming business.”

Dan Cepeda

Nunn received training at Casper College, where she learned to operate ground-penetrating radar equipment and earned a utility locating certification.

She also made a winning pitch in the Casper Start-Up Challenge, where she won and was able to get the business ball rolling without putting her family in debt.

The growing company has since added two employees and an intern, who is a geophysics major, to its roster.

“Wyoming, in general, is a great place to do business,” Nunn says. “Taxes are practically nonexistent, and there are grants and other types of funds available for things – like paying your interns and even finding them a place to live.”