About 15% of Kentuckians experience food insecurity, and in Eastern Kentucky, that figure jumps up to between 18% and 23%.
Biologist TJ Rayhill, who was researching environmental issues as a part of a graduate-level course, wanted to help find a solution.
"This was crazy to me ... I had to figure something out," he told the audience at the 2023 Startup Appalachia Pitch Competition. "I wanted to know what I could do."
Enter Bluegrass Crickets. It aims to be the first farm in Kentucky producing organic crickets meant for human consumption, and it just won the $10,000 first-place prize at the pitch competition held last week at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky.
Crickets, which are rich in protein and other nutrients, are a sustainable food source. Rayhill said one of his mentors in grad school told him that he couldn't sell crickets to people and make money, but just a few months in, Bluegrass Crickets is on track to do $150,000 in gross revenue this year by just selling to the bait and feed industry.
Rayhill said he wants to grow into the human consumption market, but the company's biggest constraint is space. But it's already developed four different flavors of whole crickets, two snack bars and a granola product.
The other Startup Appalachia Pitch Competition award winners are:
- Second place, $3,500: Xiled Inc., founded by Payton Keathley, looks to deliver opportunities to all players in the gaming community through cutting-edge technology, platforms and the creation of virtual environments such as Clanhub.gg.
- Third place, $1,500: Tunezle, founded by Payton May, is a melody guessing game that plays much like Wordle.
- Crowd favorite, $500: Blackbox Energy Systems, founded by Elijah Jensen, designs lightweight, powerful motors and energy-generation technology.
You can read more about the award winners and other participants here.
While there are three cash winners, every Startup Appalachia Pitch Competition applicant will receive coaching from SOAR’s Business and Innovation team, including direct services such as website, e-commerce, email and digital marketing, business planning, accounting and referrals to technical assistance providers and their subject-matter experts.
