Kentucky Startup Blog

ParkVu relocating to Louisville & Hiring

Richard Stump — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:08:10 +0000

Jeff Fedor and Terry Goertz, the founders of ParkVu, contacted me over a year ago through this blog, asking whether Kentucky would be a good place to relocate their startup. Over the past year they have investigated and compared it to other startup hotbeds and have chosen Kentucky. ParkVu is a mobile consumer media company. We develop products for the Android, BlackBerry, Symbian and Maemo platforms along with OS X and Windows. They are having a launch party/job event tomorrow night in Louisville, details below and we will have more on their move soon.

We’re immediately looking to fill the following positions based in Louisville:

Senior Software Developers (C#, Java, Objective-C, C++ or similar)
Tester/Quality Assurance Developer
Community Manager
Office Manager

Come celebrate with us:

When: 5 PM, Tuesday, March 9th
Where: O’Shea’s (map)
RSVP: Here

And if you’re interested in the any of the above positions, make sure you talk to Terry or myself (Jeff) on Tuesday or send an email to careers@parkvu.com. We look forward to meeting you.

startup-slam

Richard Stump — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:36:47 +0000

Two Kentucky Energy Startups receive funding

Richard Stump — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:55:27 +0000

Wellhead Energy Systems, located in Somerset, was approved for an investment of up to $500,000 to develop generator systems that can be placed near natural gas wells to produce electricity for rural communities. Southeast Biofuels, in Mt. Sterling, was approved for a grant of up to $30,000 to develop a portable system that can produce ethanol using sorghum as a feedstock. Many natural gas wells in Kentucky’s rural areas are unproductive because they lack access to transport pipelines. Wellhead Energy Systems’ technology can take natural gas from these isolated wells, clean it, compress it and feed it into a self-contained, on-site generator system. The natural gas-powered generators convert the gas into electricity for use by local utilities, rural residents and industrial locations.

“By placing the generators closer to electrical users, our company plans to create a distributed energy supply to provide secure and reliable electrical power for rural communities,” said David Weddle, president and CEO of Wellhead. “We are also going to use an existing local manufacturer to produce our generator units, which will help keep and create jobs in the Somersetarea.”

Southeast Biofuels is developing a portable system to convert sweet sorghum into ethanol for use as a fuel additive. The modular fermentation system will produce the liquid fuel at sites where the sorghum feed stock is grown and harvested. Sweet sorghum is similar to corn and grows well inKentucky, even on marginal lands. The stalks and leaves can be processed in ways similar to sugar cane, with the juice pressed out so it can be fermented into ethanol.

“We plan to initially focus on expanding existing sorghum crops, and then later extending our production onto marginal lands,” said Stephen Popyach, president of Southeast Biofuels. “Our crops will help keep money within the Kentucky economy that is currently flowing out to pay for petroleum fuels. We’ll also help existing farms earn an income by paying to use their land to grow our crops.”

Southeast Biofuels is developing a portable system to convert sweet sorghum into ethanol for use as a fuel additive. The modular fermentation system will produce the liquid fuel at sites where the sorghum feed stock is grown and harvested. Sweet sorghum is similar to corn and grows well in Kentucky, even on marginal lands. The stalks and leaves can be processed in ways similar to sugar cane, with the juice pressed out so it can be fermented into ethanol.

Paratechs received funding

Richard Stump — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:40:17 +0000

Paratechs received $120,000 from the Cabinet for Economic Development’s High-Tech Investment Pool.ParaTechs has an exclusive license to market a patented special line of insect cells developed at the University of Kentucky that employs the baculovirus expression vector system used to manufacture proteins for use in vaccines and therapeutics to prevent or treat a wide range of diseases. The technology improves protein production and helps lower drug manufacturing costs

Backupify: good news and Bad news

Richard Stump — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:20:14 +0000

Louisville based Backupify recently raised and angel round from some prominent national investors and was featured on Techcrunch. That is the good news. The bad news is founder Rob May states that the company will probably be moving from Kentucky soon. The idea that you have to build these type of web services only in Silicon Valley or New York or Boston has been debunked by many. The growth of Boulder has a tech hub is one good example. Rob may have had to make this promise in order to raise the funding but I think he should stand up, be a man, and build his company in Louisville.

April is Tech Month in Lexington

Richard Stump — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:44:58 +0000

The month of April is called Tech Month here in Lexington. Many different organizations are planning events that are technology or innovation related. Below is a highlight of some of the most interesting happenings:

Creative Cities Summit

www.creativecitieslexington.com

Date: April 7-9, 2010

Time: varies

Location: Lexington Center Corporation

Costs: $199

A multi-disciplinary conference bringing together leading thinkers and practitioners who are changing cities and communities all over the world. Areas of focus include talent attraction & retention, innovation, developing entrepreneurship, community design and civic engagement. Featuring Richard Florida, author, Rise of the Creative Class.

Who Should Attend?

The audience will be diverse, including economic development professionals, artists, arts and cultural advocates, government, planners, architects, business leaders, young professionals, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and college students. Their common thread is the desire to make their communities better places to live, work and play.

Mechanalia ~ Newton’s Attic, Inc.

Contact: Bill Cloyd (859) 233-3337or (859) 948-0085

wcciv@mindspring.com

bill@newtonsattic.com

Cost: $60 per team of 3 to 5 individuals

Dates: April 3 and 24

Time: 10:00am to 8:00 pm

Where: TBD

Website: www.newtonsattic.com

Mechanalia is an interactive game in which teams of three to five people drive electric robotic rovers and operate robotic arms to vie for prizes. Each team is equipped with a rover that accommodates 2 players. Mounted on the front of each rover is a robotic arm that is operated from the passenger seat. This arm is capable of picking up various objects from the ground and stands or tables. The other members of each team reside in fortified base stations that are equipped with tennis ball cannons mounted in turrets on top of the base stations.

To play, the rovers race around obstacles in a football field sized arena and try to score points by retrieving objects with the robotic arms. To complicate matters, there is a target on the top of each rover that, when hit by tennis balls fired from the cannons, shuts that rover down for 30 seconds. To further complicate matters, there is another obstacle in the arena called the POD, an 18 foot tall, double barrel tennis ball machine gun that shoots at everything that moves in the arena. The team that scores the most points by collecting the most objects wins. Thirty minute elimination rounds are played and the top three scoring teams play in the final that determines the overall winner.

Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference

What: Sixth Annual Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference

When: April 6, 2010

Time: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Where: Griffin Gate Marriott Resort, Newtown Pike, Lexington, KY

A conference which brings together distinguished speakers, tech-based economic development practitioners, innovators, and entrepreneurs. It will focus on opportunities for innovation and building science and engineering talent in the Lexington area. The conference is open to universities, the business community, state and local leaders, and students who are interested in technology-driven innovation, high-tech growth, university-business engagement, and job opportunities.

Online registration and additional conference details will be available at http://ksef.kstc.com in February.

Kentucky Space Conference

Date: April 9, 2010

Location: TBD in Lexington, KY

Time: 9:00AM - 4:00PM

Cost: TBD

Website: A link will be available soon at www.kstc.com

Kentucky Space is an ambitious non-profit enterprise involving a consortium of universities, public and private organizations throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky to design and lead innovative space missions and develop expertise to provide inexpensive, rapid turn-around, access to space. Its goal is to help realize a space exploration program that is focused on efficient costs, robust launch schedules and research and educational opportunities. Kentucky Space seeks to push beyond the traditional models for space opportunities. It has made significant progress since its inception, and the program has brought Kentucky to the forefront of other states in building a very active program involving near-space, sub-orbital, orbital and space station projects. This conference will highlight Kentucky Space’s success in all these programs including its CubeLabTM project to the International Space Station.

Idea State U

Date: April 16 and 17, 2010

Location: Lexington Convention Center

Website: www.IdeaStateU.com.

Kentucky’s statewide business concept and business plan competition is designed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship by rewarding participating student teams from the Commonwealth’s public universities. Winning teams will be those judged as having the best business concepts and business plans for proposed new ventures.

With $100,000 in combined cash prizes and awards, Kentucky’s Idea State U is one of the nation’s top state-sponsored business plan competitions.

All eight state universities are planning to send up to four teams to the third annual competition to be held in Lexington, April 16-17, 2010, at the Lexington Convention Center. The public is invited to observe. More information is available at www.IdeaStateU.com.

Solar Powered Earth Day Celebration

What: Solar Powered Earth Day Demonstration/Event

When: April 22, 2010

Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Where: University of Kentucky College of Engineering

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Earth day, the College of Engineering at the University of Kentucky will be hosting “Solar Powered Earth Day”. Recently, UK College of Engineering students designed, built, and raced Gato Del Sol IV-a completely solar powered automobile. The vehicle finished 2nd in the Formula Sun Grand Prix in Cresson, Texas. This vehicle will be on display for the general public. In addition, the University Kentucky Sky.Blue solar house which finished 9th in this year’s Solar Decathlon on the Mall in Washington, D.C. The Sky.Blue solar house has been reconstructed on the lawn in front of the Main Administration Building. On April 22nd, the house will be available for touring with students from the College of Engineering and the College of Architecture serving as hosts and guides to the house. Contact Ms. Vicki Cooper at vlcoop1@engr.uky.edu for more information and updates.

Geeks Night Out ~ a night with other creative minds

Date: April 22nd, 2010

Time: 5:00 until 7:30

Location: tbd

What: Innovator. Engineer. Techie. Entrepreneur.

Do you fit in one, two, or all of these categories? Are you interested in meeting others who do too?

Do you want to share ideas with them? Are you interested in learning more about up & coming companies, as well as established successful companies in Lexington? If your answer is YES to any of these questions… You are who we’re looking for! Join the other innovators, engineers, techies, and entrepreneurs from companies and start-ups across Lexington to meet, share, and create.

TedX Lex - The first Ted event in Kentucky.

Date: April 23, 2010

Time:

Location:

Website: http://www.ted.com/tedx

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading.” The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. At TEDx events, unique talks given by live speakers combine with TEDTalks videos to spark deep conversation and connections. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

BuildyCrunkin

Date: April 24th, 2010 (a Recurring Collaborative Event)

Cost: Free attendance

Location:

Time:

Contact: @collexion

Website: http://collexion.net/events/buildycrunken

http://groups.google.com/group/collexion

Buildycrunkin is about getting things done. We often have ideas that we find time to commit to implementing. Buildycrunken is held overnight, to capitalize on time that is normally not exploited.

The atmosphere is one of jovial collaboration. Share what you’re working on, so we can laugh together at mistakes, encourage each other to press on after failures, and applaud successes. Being in a creative atmosphere and finding support is important to have the mental fortitude to complete your pet projects. You may even find new collaborators for your project.

Any project that doesn’t distract or endanger people trying to concentrate is fine. There have been table-top game sessions, software hacking, electronic music composition, novel writing, jewelry making, and other activities going on. If you feel like socializing with a bunch of makers, then Buildycrunken is your kind of event.

Tinker

Date: April 24, 2010

Location: Busters, in Lexington’s historic Distillery District

Cost: Free for presenters and attendees, Sponsorships available

Website: http://collexion.net/events/tinker

Tinker is a festival celebrating our creative spirit. Think of it as a science fair crashing a carnival being hijacked by a jazz festival. There will be three main tracks. A poster track will give participants space to present their works, give hands-on demonstrations, and interact with attendees. There will be a presentation track aimed at showing how things are assembled in practical terms by showing off actual works of electronic, software, and mechanical engineering and the tools used to create them. There will also be various competitions involving robots, software, automobiles, and toys that you can participate in or watch and cheer along with.

Tinker will bring out the basement builders and the weekend inventors. This is the first event of its type in Kentucky, and promises to be a fun-filled, high energy exposition of excellence. You will want to attend if:

you are a student, an educator, you build things, you WANT to build things, you work in government or economic development, you are looking for a technical job and want to show your skills off, you need to recruit technical talent, you want to network with the brightest minds in the region

Innovation Scorecard and playbook

Richard Stump — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:16:10 +0000

Bill Warner, A technology entrepreneur in Boston posted the following Scorecard and play book for building an innovation economy. Bill is in Boston but this simple methodology is applicable elsewhere including Kentucky. We need plays and metrics with which to judge the success of efforts to boost a technology cluster. Our politicians often tout the work they are doing in these areas but use outdated or no methodology at all to judge their impact and many of the tactics are outdated or ineffective. This might give us a common language.

Scorecard

Single

Any growing company that is selling a successful product.

This would mean any company that successfully reaches the market and serves a growing need.

Essentially, you’re on base once you show that more and more people need and obtain your product.

Double

Any growing company with sales over $10M.

Triple

Any growing company with sales over $100M

Home Run

>1B market cap

Grand Slam

>10B market cap

“Home Run Candidate” - This means a local company that could go pubic, and reach over a billion in market cap. Constant Contact and iRobot are examples.

“Grand Slam Candidate” This is a company that is probably already public, and could become an unchallenged global leader with over $10B in sales.

Exstream software was a home run and you might count Lexmark as a grand slam though it was a spinout.

Playbook

1. Fund First Timers

- The great breakthroughs come from people doing it for the first time

- Stop focusing so much on experience.

2. More Mixing

- Encourage job movement. It’s good for the economy

- Move the talent around. Stealing talent is healthy. Changing jobs spreads the talent wealth.

- Voluntarily avoid non-competes. Create social pressure not to have non-competes.

3. Awesome Angels

- We must dramatically improve our angel environment.

- More angels that can do $25K-50K investments quickly

- Recruit some local “Super Angels” similar to Ron Conway and others from California.

4. New Blood

- We need new blood, new talent, to rebuild our region

- Aggressively recruit from outside, especially California.

5. Push Each Other

- Create pressure to Play Big, to avoid moves that diminish us locally.

- Expect higher performance from your peers, from your superiors, and from your team.

6. Execute, Execute

- Get tough with getting things done right.

- No company can become a global leader if its ideas are great, but it’s execution is spotty

- We need to build our expertise in operations, in sales, and in marketing. (how?)

7. Spread Success

- Make sure people know what’s working. Get the word out.

- Share real stories in small groups. Have the winners teach others how to win.

Nine companies receive matching funds from the state

Richard Stump — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:21:46 +0000

Through the SBIR-STTR matching funds program:

Four Tigers, near Paris, is developing blackberry-based cosmetics, dietary supplements, food and medical products that offer the fruit’s potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
www.four-tigers.com

NaugaNeedles, of Louisville, produces nano-scale probes and electrodes for use in mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical sensing and manipulation at cellular and molecular levels.
www.nauganeedles.com

SCR, of Louisville, is developing a long-term implantable counterpulsation medical device to treat heart failure patients who may be responsive to a moderate level of cardiac assistance.
www.scrdevelopmentgroup.com

Topasol, of Lexington, produces nanoparticles for use in new coatings and composites for sensors, biocides, mar-resistant materials, optical devices, solar cells and colorings.
www.topasol.com

Transposagen, of Lexington, uses mobile DNA technology (transposons) to develop genetically modified laboratory rats that can mimic human diseases and be used for medical research.
www.transposagenbio.com

ApoImmune, of Louisville, is developing vaccines to treat cancer and prevent infectious diseases, as well as therapies to improve patient tolerance to transplanted organs and cells.
www.apoimmune.com

NuForm Materials, near Georgetown, makes ceramic materials for use in automotive and aerospace composites that can help lower cost and improve performance and fuel efficiency.
www.nuformmaterials.com

PGxl Laboratories, of Louisville, is studying how genetics affect the way patients react to medicines to help physicians select drugs and adjust dosages to avoid adverse drug reactions.
www.pgxlab.com

3H Company, of Lexington, is focusing on clean coal technology and testing its carbon sequestration technology designed to capture and store carbon dioxide underground.

Free Innovation Workshops

Richard Stump — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:46:17 +0000

The Eastern ICC at EKU will host a special Innovation training program on Feb. 9.

Eureka Ranch, a nationally recognized Innovation Lab will present two sessions on Innovation-Profit 101 (8:30am-12:30pm) and USA National Innovation Marketplace (1:30-2:30pm) in the EKU Perkins Building on Kit Carson Drive on the south campus at EKU in Richmond.

The first session, Profit 101 Growth program is designed to assist existing organizations get the most out of the creative process (start-ups will also benefit). Find out how to accelerate ideas and successfully diversify into more profitable products, services, markets and/or customers. The session provides a hands-on simulation experience for successfully identifying opportunities, reducing risk and increasing success probability.

www.eurekaranch.com/Profit-101-Training

(8:30am-12:30pm)

The second session, USA National Innovation Marketplace (USA NIM) presents an internet-based Open Innovation Marketplace that connects Innovation Sellers, Buyers, Investors & Distributors-a virtual Tech mining/match service. Listing in this database will give sellers instant Business Credibility as it utilizes the same sales forecasting methodology used by large corporations to screen their own internal innovations. Follow-on participation and registration features an innovation research report that buyers and investors can understand in less than a minute (a potential $2,000 value).

Every time a new innovation is listed in the USA NIM, it will be automatically compared to thousands of companies and matched to their needs.

www.planeteureka.org/marketplace

Contact R. Gary Marshall, Eastern ICC at gary.marshall@eku.edu or 859-622-8577.

(1:30-2:30pm)

Entrepreneurs Foundation creates High-Tech helpHaiti fund

Richard Stump — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:12:41 +0000

Check out the info at EFKY about the High-Tech HelpHaiti fund. An example of the leadership shown by entrepreneurial companies in the US. The funds donated are being matched leading to at least $1.2 million for Haitian relief.