Launch Blue's mission is to support promising technology startup founders and university innovators. They do this through their virtual programs, mainly the Pre-Seed Accelerator and UAccel Program. Their Pre-Seed Accelerator prepares startups to be successful at raising their seed round and scaling their startups, while the UAccel Program is for innovators in higher education who are interested in learning the best path to market for their technologies. Learn more about Launch Blue from their team.
Q: Why was Launch Blue created?
Few resources are positioned to help startups in the difficult in-between phase where they are looking to scale and raise their first serious round of funding. Bootcamps focus on the idea stage and most accelerator programs focus on the seed stage to series A. Launch Blue was created to work with startups in this pivotal pre-seed stage.
Q: How does Launch Blue provide services to Kentucky universities and the community?
The goal of our UAccel Program is to help our university innovators from public institutions in Kentucky bring their technologies to market. We are proud to see innovators participate from the University of Kentucky and several regional institutions, including Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Kentucky State University and Northern Kentucky University.
We have purposely made our Pre-Seed Accelerator and UAccel virtual programs to make them accessible to founders and innovators regardless of their location. We currently accept applications from founders across the country, but we heavily focus on startups from the Southeast and Midwest.
Q: What is Launch Blue Demo Day?
Launch Blue's Demo Day is where our participating founders will pitch their startups to investors. This year we are hosting our Demo Day virtually on Stonks.com and are excited to showcase our startups to their global audience. Demo Day will be held on June 15.
Q: What is your advice to someone thinking about launching a startup?
Many entrepreneurs fail early on by not taking enough time to understand the customer and the different underlying causes of the problem. Instead, they get excited and rush into building a whole product or solution. After launching, they struggle to get the customer traction and sales they want. Some get frustrated and walk away. My advice is to remember that your commitment is not to the product or service but the customer. Continue to engage with customers, get their critical feedback and do not be afraid to pivot or make changes. Our pre-seed accelerator focuses on teaching founders lean startup principles and the importance of continuous customer discovery no matter what stage they're in.
Q: Can you talk about a university and a community startup that has had success after completing one or more of Launch Blue's programs?
One community startup that has been with us since the very beginning and is seeing success is Synaptek. The Synaptek founding team (Kate Van Pelt, Doug Van Pelt and James McCollum) participated in one of the first cohorts of our Pre-Seed Accelerator in 2020. Afterward, they earned a $60,000 investment award with follow-on sidecar investment in our KY270 Competition and have been active in our Incubator programs since then. In addition, they recently closed a seed round and have brought on new clients, including University of Kentucky Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine, Florida Institute of Technology and University of Louisville Athletics.
On the university side, we've worked with beef extension professors Les Anderson, Ph.D., (UK College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment) and Justin Rhinehart, Ph.D., (University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture). First, they completed our UAccel program while working on their app, X10D. Then, the team made significant progress in our Incubator and is now engaged in our Pre-Seed Accelerator. They've recently launched their product and are looking forward to a raise later this year.
Q: What does success look like for Launch Blue over the next five years?
Our success is measured by the success of our founders and innovators. Are our founders and innovators finding value in our programs? Are our startups successful in raising their seed rounds? Are our innovators able to develop paths to bring their technologies to market? These are the questions that we will be asking ourselves as we continue to move Launch Blue forward.
Q: What is the one thing you wish everyone knew about Launch Blue?
Getting over the hump between launching your startup and raising your first round of funding is very challenging – many startups don't make it through. Our mission at Launch Blue is to be here to guide and assist you in the process.
In that regard, if you're a startup founder seeking assistance, we'd love to help you. Applications for our programs open in June and you can sign up here to receive our newsletter to be notified when applications open.
