From the American Prairie, a Tale of Venture Capital, an ISV Launch, and a New Take on Microsoft Dynamics CRM and xRM

ICORA, a Microsoft Dynamics ISV that operates under the umbrella of Lincoln, Nebraska-based venture capital fund Nebraska Global, recently released Mako XRM, its visual customizer for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011.

Mako XRM streamlines the process of customizing Dynamics CRM with a unique visual interface for managing many of the typical XRM coniguration and customization points, with the goal of helping partners streamline the implementation process, according to ICORA President Allison Jensen.

ICORA was the second company launched by Nebraska Global, which was established last year with a goal of creating two companies within 18 months and 10 within five years. Jensen, who is very passionate about Dynamics products, has made a career out of building relationships with technology partners across North America. She said she grew up with ERP and CRM. Along the way she's worked with Red Wing Software, Open Systems and most recently Microsoft. She has also worked with Sage Software and Goldmine.

"I was introduced to founders of Nebraska Global about a year ago and through some discussions they invited me in to hear a proposal for a company idea they had been vetting for some time - ICORA," she said. "They are deep consumers of all Microsoft technologies but they're also very strong developers in Microsoft technologies. One of their core missions is to develop start-up companies specifically based in Nebraska to stop the brain drain from large Midwest cities that lose their technological talent to larger cities like Chicago or Dallas or New York or Silicon Valley."

Jensen said Mako XRM, built largely using Microsoft .NET technology, is a visual customizer for Dynamics CRM 2011, which works the same way for the on-premise and the online ...