For entrepreneurs, finding a path from idea to launch can be an arduous process.
But, with help from some of Central Kentucky’s best entrepreneurial resources, a new program that is hoping to set entrepreneurs on the path to success.
Launch Blue, a collaborative effort from the University of Kentucky’s Offce of Technology Commercialization (OTC), Base 110, Bluegrass Angels (BGA), Bullard, Commerce Lexington, Kentucky Small Business Development Center (KSBDC), Kentucky Science & Technology Corporation (KSTC), Awesome Inc. and Marrow, was developed to be an early state business accelerator program to nurture Kentucky entrepreneurs and their fledgling technology-based businesses.
Laura Halligan, executive director for Launch Blue, and New Ventures manager for OTC, said the idea was to bring together the various partners to help startup businesses move from pre-seed phase to launch.
“Accelerators aren’t new to us and certainly not a new idea around Kentucky,” she said. “There’s been talk from many people in the ecosystem about the value of accelerators and increasing the amount of accelerators that we have in the ecosystem in the state. But this was … [about] trying to bring the community together to determine what value this program could have if we all worked together, especially at these early stages [for startup companies].”
OTC is a thought leader and significant contributor to startup efforts throughout the state, and is one of the funding partners behind Launch Blue, along with KY Innovation and the Lexington–Fayette County Urban County Government.
The program opened up applications for its first cohort in June, receiving more than nine applications for just six spots. Once entered into the program, the businesses will work with Eric Hartman, Launch Blue program advisor, instructor and coach.
“I think the biggest challenge for entrepreneurs is just knowing what to do,” Hartman said. “When you start you have this idea like ‘I know where I want to go but I don’t know steps to get me there,’ and there haven’t really been the resources or this huge network of people like you would have in a more developed ecosystem. So I think knowing where to put their time and resources and knowing when is the right time to bring in a software developer or when is the right time to bring in an investor or when is the right time to file for a patent … those are the types of things that we want to be able to help people know.”
After an initial beta cohort ran earlier this year, the program will begin its 12-week classes starting in fall and will run through the end of the year. Another cohort will be selected in late fall for a session that runs in spring, Hartman said. Founders of scalable, technology-based startups can find more information and begin the application process on the program’s website, launchblue.org.
The entrepreneurs are taught how to help their business idea launch into a business. Developed around Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank’s curriculum, the course teaches the business owners when to make what moves and how to make them successfully. Between classes, there are cohort meetings that help fine-tune that information as it pertains to their business, as well as individual sessions with the businesses to go into more detail, Hartman said.
Doug Van Pelt, co-founder of Synaptek, a SaaS startup focusing on concussion data management, said the experience was invaluable to his company. A member of the beta cohort, he said the program helped him and his partners work through everything from what their company was doing to better identifying their market.
“They have done a really great job of helping us to examine what our business model is going to be,” Van Pelt said. “They helped us to identify who our first customers would be, and to realize that it’s okay to have a different product when you enter the market than the one you presented to them.”
“Launch Blue is like an outlet that you can plug into that connects you to the entrepreneurial community." — Doug Van Pelt, co-founder of Synaptek
Having access to a network of other entrepreneurs and business resources was also key to their experience, Van Pelt said. “Launch Blue is like an outlet that you can plug into that connects you to the entrepreneurial community,” he said. “We were able to meet face-to-face with people who gave us great advice and energy that we wouldn’t have been able to access as quickly and easily if we’d sent out a cold email.”
Among those network contacts is Chris Young, president of Bluegrass Angels, an angel investing club. For him, being a part of Launch Blue provides the community with new businesses
“I look at this as much of a mentorship and help as anything else,” Young said. “That’s one of our basic principles at Bluegrass Angels. We don’t want to be arms-length investors. We really want to roll our sleeves up and help entrepreneurs because our overriding mission is to improve the startup ecosystem and the startup environment in the state of Kentucky.”
Ultimately, he said, if companies succeed they can, in turn, give back to the community.
For the E. D. Bullard Company in Cynthiana, that’s part of the reason being a part of Launch Blue is so important. The 122-year-old personal protective equipment company sees the partnership with OTC as a way to connect with and grow the startup community in Lexington, said Landon Borders, Bullard’s Director of Product Development.
“I think we’re seeing firsthand now that you no longer have to be present in a startup hotbed like San Francisco or Austin to really be successful. I’m confident we can do that right here in our own state,” he said.
Hartman said the entrepreneurial environment in Lexington, and in Kentucky, is growing, and that this partnership will spur on further growth.
“I think the entrepreneurial ecosystem here has been growing for a number of years,” Hartman said. “But it’s still relatively young and it needs more people, more programs, more resources, more experienced serial entrepreneurs who have done this before and can actually help a new company get started. So that I think that’s really the impetus behind Launch Blue...helping those Kentucky entrepreneurs be able to build that foundation … and build those types of networks with the right people and the right resources to be successful long term.”