Lately, I keep finding myself saying, "Wait, that happened this year?"
Maybe I'm just forgetful — or the constant cycle of news has warped my concept of time — but a lot has happened in 2022. The ongoing Elon Musk-Twitter saga. The collapse of FTX. The amazing, and slightly terrifying, innovations in artificial intelligence.
Fortunately, in my opinion at least, local news has been much more tame. Still though, there's a chance you might've missed one of KY Inno's most-read stories of the year, so I'm breaking them down for you in this roundup, ranked in ascending order by the number of web visits they received.
10. AppHarvest banks on multimillion dollar farms to become financially self-sufficient
In a first quarter earnings call in May, AppHarvest (Nasdaq: APPH) founder and CEO Jonathan Webb said he expected the company's three in-progress farms would accelerate sales growth, enable the company to become financially self-sufficient and attract new investment.
Those high tech, indoor farms — in Somerset, Berea and Richmond, Kentucky — have since opened, but AppHarvest is still struggling financially, as I recently reported. Earlier this week, the company sold its Berea farm for $127 million.
9. Dan-O's Seasoning expands distribution with Walmart, Kroger
Dan-O's Seasoning, which topped Louisville Business First's Fast 50 list this year, expanded its distribution deals with Walmart and Kroger in April.
It grew from 1,300 retail locations in March to more than 10,000 stores in October. The company posted a 3,071.3% three-year revenue growth, increasing revenues from $196,000 in 2019 to over $6.2 million in 2021.
8. Here's how two Kentucky teens started a business and made $225K
What started out as a hunt for a coronavirus-safe summer job turned into a path to entrepreneurship for two Oldham County teenagers.
In May, I wrote about Quentin Proud and Darren Grendi, who started PG Invicta Enterprises LLC, an electronics resale business, during the pandemic. At the time, the company had sold more than 4,300 items for more than $225,000.
7. This entrepreneur quit her corporate job with $3K in the bank. Now Chewy wants her products.
Jen Hartman, founder of NEAT Marketing, quit corporate job with $3,000 to her name. To connect with others while working remotely, she created Doggy Issues, an ethical and sustainable clothing brand for dog lovers, in July 2021.
In March, I reported Doggy Issues' products had caught the eye of Chewy Inc. through a viral video.
6. UofL grad named CEO of Pinterest
A native Kentuckian was named as the CEO of Pinterest in June.
Bill Ready, who grew up in the Fort Knox area, is a University of Louisville graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and Finance. He came to Pinterest from Alphabet-owned Google, where he had served as president of commerce, payments and next billion users since January 2020.
5. This founder left his 14-year career at Humana to build a better software solution
Pramā, founded by CEO Srinivasa "Raju" Eedarapalli, made its debut via KY Inno in April and it was recently named as one of our 20 Startups to Watch in 2023.
The Louisville-based platform-as-a-service (PaaS) startup that aims to make enterprise-class software solutions more affordable and accessible to all businesses. The company's leadership team also includes Scott Herrmann, chief strategy officer, and former senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Hosparus Health.
4. Fire Awards: AppHarvest has created 700 Kentucky jobs. Here's what comes next.
In spite of its financial challenges, AppHarvest was recognized as one of KY Inno's inaugural Fire Awards winners in November.
The company won in the Job Creators category, for adding roughly 200 new jobs in Kentucky in 2022. In total, AppHarvest says it employs 700 Kentuckians across its four-farm network in Appalachia.
3. Former NFL player joins Dan-O's Seasoning as investor, strategic partner
Dan-O's Seasoning is back on this ranking again, this time for bringing on Eric Wood as an investor in February.
Wood, a four-year football starter at University of Louisville between 2005 and 2008, retired from the NFL in 2018 after nine seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He said he was committed to finding “what’s next” and helping others do the same, adding that partnering with Dan-O’s not only aligns with his professional mission, but also his health and wellness goals.
2. Horse racing, bourbon and ... NFTs? Inside the plan to put Louisville on the map for web3
This story came out at the start of 2022, but it sure was a fun one.
Party Horses announced its plan to launch a collection of thousands of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that would have tangible, real-world benefits, like access to rare bottles of bourbon and exclusive events. The team included several local entrepreneurial heavyweights, such as Justin Delaney and Brook Smith — who recently announced a new venture, buying Louisville Vegan Jerky.
Party Horses delivered what was promised after its $1.3 million mint — bourbon bottles and a big party with Diplo on Oaks Night — but we haven't heard much about what's next. I suspect we'll find out more in the new year.
1. Startup backed by Louisville investors to be acquired in $27M deal
And our top story of year was about Podchaser getting acquired by Acast for $27.2 million in July.
Podchaser, founded by CEO Bradley Davis, has Louisville roots and several local investors, such as Poplar Ventures, Lunsford Capital, Connectic Ventures, Rounsavall Investments, Phoebe Wood, Ed Glasscock and Bill Strench.
I talked with Davis after the deal, and he gave me a real, candid quote that might be my favorite from the year:
"It's not giving up, even though you get told 'no' hundreds and hundreds of times ... It's not for the faint of heart," he said. "It's kind of cliche, but keeping going even though there were many, many times where I thought, 'This is impossible. What am I doing?'
"I'd be on Indeed, late at night, being like, 'Maybe I can manage a CVS.' I don't have any skills. My skills do not translate to the workforce. I don't know anything — I just know how to build a podcast company."
Want to connect with the movers and shakers in the startup scene? Register for our 2023 Startups to Watch event, set for 4 p.m. Jan. 31 at Noble Funk Brewery at bizjournals.com/louisville/event
