Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entre­pre­neurs who are shaping the future.

LINCOLN, NE (May 9, 2024) – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) announced that Hudl’s CEO David Graff, CTO Brian Kaiser, COO Matt Mueller and CPO John Wirtz were named Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Heartland Award finalists, the only ones selected from Nebraska. The Heartland program celebrates entrepreneurs from the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas. Now in its 38th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive business award for audacious leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize sectors and have a transformational impact on lives. Over the past four decades, the program has recognized the daring entrepreneurs with big ideas and bold actions that reshape our world.

The Hudl team joins 28 regional entrepreneurs selected as finalists by an independent panel of judges. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.

“We’re honored to be named finalists for this award alongside such an amazing group of nominees. It takes an incredible team, and this really reflects the dedication, innovation, and teamwork of the amazing team we get to work with at Hudl everyday. It's not just about the Hudl team—it’s about the thousands of coaches, athletes, and fans who use Hudl to improve their game and connect with each other,” shared Hudl CEO David Graff. “This award recognizes entrepreneurs who are shaping the future through big ideas and bold actions, which is a perfect summation of our team. They demonstrate these qualities daily to make every moment count for our customers.”

Entrepreneur Of The Year honors many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

Regional award winners will be announced on June 20th during a special celebration and will become lifetime members of an esteemed community of Entrepreneur Of The Year alumni from around the world. The winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

In addition to Entrepreneur Of The Year, EY US supports other entrepreneurs through the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ program and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network to help connect women founders and Black and Hispanic/Latino entrepreneurs, respectively, with the resources, network and access needed to unlock their full potential.

About Hudl

Hudl empowers more than 230,000 teams globally to reach their potential. A complete suite of video and data products ensures coaches and teams at every level of sport have the information and insights they need to be their best. Our smart cameras capture every second of the action, and our software makes video easy to access, analyze, share and learn from. That video also enables athletes to get recruited and teams at every level to find their next star. And fans and communities who want to be part of the action can connect to livestreaming, athlete highlights and team profiles. That’s why more than 8M users across 40+ sports trust Hudl for every moment that matters to them. Learn more at Hudl.com.

Sponsors

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, Cresa, Marsh USA, SAP and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the Heartland, sponsors also include regional Platinum sponsor, Twin Cities Business; regional Gold sponsor, Padilla; and regional Silver sponsors, Brillect and Robert Half.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year®

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

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