For nine years after earning a bachelor’s degree, Dana Njenga worked eight hours a day, five days a week, repeating the cycle week, after week, after monotonous week. But when the time came for rest and relaxation, Njenga, her husband, and three children rarely answered the call.

University of Iowa student businesses Actively (Idea Stage) and PTXtension (Startup Growth Stage) won first-place awards and $1,000 each at the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Iowa JPEC) End-of-Semester Pitch Competition on Dec. 10 in Pomerantz Career Center.

FBB: Biomed, a company that has developed a blood test to screen for neurologic diseases, took home a $20,000 first place award in the Innovation Challenge graduate/faculty technology division at the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center award’s event Nov. 17 at MERGE in Iowa City, Iowa. 

Kimm Harris is one of many women thriving within Iowa JPEC whose accomplishments will be celebrated during Women Entrepreneurship Week from Nov. 8-14.

What began as stress relief is evolving into a career for University of Iowa junior Ava Reynolds, founder of Beets n Treats, a vegan café and bakery.

Nicole Relias helped develop Skunk Aid, an all-in-one de-skunking kit that provides pet owners with everything needed to safely and effectively remove skunk oil from their dog.

OpenLoop, a web-based platform to streamline hiring clinicians to work at different hospital systems, was named Startup Technology Company of the Year as part of the Prometheus Awards presentation on Nov. 4 by the Technology Association of Iowa (TAI). The company was co-founded by University of Iowa graduate Jon Lensing.