It’s a busy time of the month in Louisville in the wake of the 150th Kentucky Derby and with the first round of the 106th PGA Championship starting Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club.
Aside from the local sports scene, there was also a big announcement made in the startup world May 1 at the inaugural Derby Tech Summit, when the 12 winners of this year’s Render Competition were unveiled — as a way to bolster interest from investors outside of the metro area. This was a record number of winners of the competition in its fifth year, as eight winners had been the previous standard.
Each recipient will receive an investment of $100,000 from Render Capital, a $30 million fund based in Louisville.
According to the guidelines, each applicant had to identify as being a “high-growth startup,” meaning it is looking to aggressively scale up before seeking an exit. The competition rules also state any company with founders not living in the Louisville metro area must relocate their headquarters or founding team members to the to area.
Here’s a rundown of the winners (in alphabetical order):
Aurat Aroma (Louisville): Founded in 2022, the company has a technological spin to candle-based aromatherapy. “We build candles to solve problems,” said co-founder Lekha Challappa, who is currently based out of Atlanta, but grew up in Louisville. Her co-founder, Arshi Chopra, is from Louisville, and is about to enter medical school. Aside from the initial scent, the candles that the company is creating are looking at the scientific and medicinal benefits behind scents that can help adjust one’s mood/modulate emotions to boost productivity, Challappa said.
Bold Move Beverages (Austin Texas): Founded in 2023, the company has created “Cold Brooze,” which is a premium cocktail that combines cold brew coffee from South America, American whiskey and vanilla from Madagascar. The combination results in a product that has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 6% and 110 milligrams of caffeine (a little more than a standard cup of coffee).
Card.io (Austin, Texas): Founded in 2022, the company has created a movement app that has gamified cardio exercises by turning them into a “game of team turf war.” Users can join individually or form teams. Turf is “stolen’ by walking outdoors, running or cycling. I spoke with Co-Founder/CEO Destin George Bell, who is originally from Louisville and a graduate of the University of Kentucky: “Think like if Pokémon GO and Strava had a baby,” Bell told me. “We’re just taking the experience that you would get tracking your miles and turning it into a competition.” In fact, part of Card.io’s investors so far have included Pokémon GO, which started its own grant program. The app has been on iOS for about a year, with an Android version in the works.
Day1 AI (South Bend, Indiana): Founded in 2024, the software company has created a platform that provides “AI agents and coaches for busy professionals,” according to its LinkedIn page.
iba Healthy Energy Drink (Miami): Founded in 2022, the company has taken beverage inspirations from Brazil to create a line of plant-based energy drinks as a healthier alternative to other products in the space. Currently, the product comes in three flavors: Black Cherry, Lime + Mint and Guarana Orange.
KidVestors (Louisville): Founded in 2020 by the husband-wife tandem of Darius and Courtney Pettway, KidVestors is creating financial literacy curriculum software for K-12 students. The platform aims to build engagement through entertainment, gamification, cultural relevance and the opportunity for students to earn money through its usage. The startup has been working to get partnerships with school districts across the country; its biggest victory so far has been in California after it launched its minimum viable product (MVP) in February. On the local front, KidVestors has worked with Central High School and West End School. I first was introduced to the Pettways in October 2022 when they won the Derby Diversity Week’s Ideathon — and $25,000 — that year. The startup, which is in the midst of closing a $1.5 million preseed round, was also named as one of our 2023 Startups to Watch.
Lifeqipt (Louisville): Founded in 2020, the company has built what it calls a “personal data storage solution” that helps protect confidential information for its users, including data that pertains to users’ identity, credentials, health records and benefit eligibility information. As we reported in March 2023, the company’s co-founder and CEO is Susan Stroud, a former vice president at Humana Inc., where she worked for about 25 years. Stroud told me that Humana has been very supportive from the start of Lifequipt. The company has its MVP in beta testing as it is in the middle of raising $750,000. Stroud told me she hopes to launch the app later this year.
Melanated Healthcare (Louisville): Founded in 2020, Melanted Healthcare offers a platform for digital health as well as a credentialed telemedicine practice that connects Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), as well as others in underserved communities to health professionals. The company has onboarded approximately 150 health care professionals to service approximately 3,000 users, said Lecresha Sewell, the company’s co-founder and CEO. The company is looking to close a $500,000 preseed round, but that number might be raised. It is also in the process of recruiting participants for a pilot program centered on maternal telehealth initiatives. The company had previously earned one of 15 grants of $100,000 through The Reconstruct Challenge, which is run through a partnership of Render and the UofL Health Equity Innovation Hub (HEIH). The company also was named one of our 2023 KY Inno Fire award winners under the category of “Disruptors.”
Open Bay Autos AI Inc. (Cincinnati): Founded in 2023, the company is centered around mobile car services that are connected to subscription-based services that help with detailing and routine vehicle maintenance.
Rhome (Dallas): According to the company's description on LinkedIn, Rhome "automates the real-estate transaction and offers a new, mobile form of homeownership."
Rush Roto (Dover, Delaware): Founded in 2021, Rush Roto uses an AI platform to create instant product photos and videos, by taking one image and converting it into a product campaign that can be used by e-commerce vendors.
SALUBATA (New Castle, Delaware): Another startup that began in Delaware in 2021, SALUBATA [stylized] is looking to take the concept of sustainable footwear to another level of carbon neutrality by using an innovation that creates what are known as “modular shoes” from plastic waste.
You can read more about the competition and the winners at this link.
