A local founder who's scaled and sold two companies is joining Amplify Louisville as an entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR).
Lydia Henshaw, chief product officer of Mindfully, will mentor Louisville-area entrepreneurs in the new role. She most recently founded and served as the CEO of Louisville-based Resolv, which sold to Mindfully, a Fairfield, Ohio-based mental health service provider, for an undisclosed amount in April.
Resolv's acquisition marked Henshaw's second successful startup, as she sold her previous company, Sow Organic Inc., for $900,000 in 2018. Prior to founding Resolv, formerly known as Moxie Girl, in 2019, Henshaw was the head of product at Alchemy, a Proctor & Gamble company.
"We are so excited that Lydia was willing to join the Amplify team and support our startup community," said Larry Horn, executive director of Amplify, in a statement. "She has an incredible background as a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits. It is also a testimony to work that Amplify is doing in our ecosystem and the willingness for founder to want to give back."
Amplify, a local nonprofit, is one of the six KY Innovation-backed entrepreneurial support hubs across the commonwealth. It aims to help tech-enabled startups and founders to explore ideas, build solutions, launch products and grow businesses.
Amplify launched its EIR program in early 2021 with Kela Ivonye, founder of MailHaven and Proteg, and Natalia Bishop, founder of Story and director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Louisville. Henshaw is succeeding Bishop, who joined Renew Venture Capital in March, and also launched the Wild Beta Accelerator in July, which recently opened applications.
Amplify's EIRs are responsible for providing subject matter expertise, assessing client needs/priorities and delivering high-impact services. They are immersed into the local ecosystem by being extensions of the organization and supporting founders and facilitating other strategic growth.
The EIRs are also forward-thinking minds to help Amplify cultivate an internal “intrapreneurship” mentality to help develop new key strategies, streamline operations and solve internal problems to ensure the organization keeps driving toward unparalleled ecosystem impact, according to information from Amplify.
"I am thrilled to serve my community of fellow founders as an entrepreneur in residence," Henshaw said in a statement. "After successfully building and selling two startups I am glad to have the capacity to give back and help founders and companies grow in this region and beyond!"
Founders can schedule time with Henshaw directly via this Calendly link. For more information on Amplify Louisville, click here.
