I remember back when the coronavirus pandemic first started, hearing the notion that great companies could be born out of challenging times.
"Yeah, right," I thought at the time. "The world feels like it's ending, how can people possibly formulate a business plan right now?"
Well, I clearly underestimated the ingenuity of entrepreneurs. Seven of our latest crop of Startups to Watch companies were founded in 2020. Five were founded in 2021, and three were founded last year.
And the companies that were founded before everything turned upside down — five on our list — showed great resiliency.
Collectively, our Startups to Watch in 2023 employ about 180 people and have raised nearly $20 million in venture capital investment. Get to know the companies via individual Q&As linked in the gallery below, or check out a few details in this handy list created by Data and Projects Editor Allison Stines.
Startups to Watch 2023
Many of them have already been making headlines, too.
Forecastr hit $1 million in annual recurring revenue last year. XpressRun was selected for not one, but two nationally recognized accelerators. Prama stepped out of stealth mode and hit the ground running. Arrow Health, C2 Keep, LimitLess, TitleWise and Xena Intelligence all won Vogt Awards in 2022.
But we hope, through this feature, we'll introduce you to a few new early-stage companies to put on your radar before they make headlines this year.
2023 looks to be a challenging one, as the seemingly endless well of VC dollars dries up and worries of an impending recession has rattled many big tech companies.
If I know anything about Kentucky founders, though, it's that they are ready to rise up and meet the challenge.
Editor's note: One selected company, Paducah, Kentucky-based Seamly Systems, did not return a questionnaire in time for publication.
