Louisville Startup Awards · Nominations
Who's doing the most for Louisville? Nominate the people and teams moving our startup community forward.
Nominate for as many awards as you like. Skip any you don’t have someone in mind for. For each nomination, tell us who and why.
Louisville’s very own favorite Founder! The Founder who does it all and represents Louisville.
Not Assistant Founder or Co-Founder, let’s be clear—just the cofounder doing 80% of the work with 20% of the credit. The Dwight Schrute of the startup world.
Why stop at one company when you can start four? This award celebrates the founder who lives in permanent "New Venture Mode," generating ideas faster than the rest of us can buy domains.
For the founder who faced a setback and came back building. Recognizing resilience, a fresh start, and the determination to keep going.
For the founder who seems to operate on pure adrenaline, bad coffee, and zero hours of sleep. This award honors the unstoppable night owl who’s always online, always building, and somehow always responding to Slack at 3:14 AM.
For the founder who always has something to say—whether it's a pitch, a rant, a story, a tangent, or a motivational sidebar nobody asked for. This award honors the unstoppable conversationalist whose words fill every room… and occasionally the entire Slack channel.
For the ecosystem hero who has heard every meltdown, panic spiral, and existential startup crisis in Louisville. They provide therapy disguised as "founder office hours."
For the person who knows everyone and makes intros faster than LinkedIn can suggest them. The connector who keeps Louisville's startup scene glued together.
For the person who does the invisible work that keeps the ecosystem alive: events, logistics, onboarding, DMs, spreadsheets, chaos control, and founder cat-herding.
For the investor who believes early, invests early, and relentlessly supports founders — with money, advice, memes, or all three.
For the startup that did the impossible: raised meaningful money in Kentucky without selling a kidney, sacrificing a cofounder, or moving to SF.
For the team moving at Mach 10 — shipping fast, iterating faster, breaking things responsibly, and permanently living in "just one more sprint" mode.
For the early-stage team that emphasized the "M" (minimum) in MVP (minimum viable product). Celebrating the team that executed in an hour rather than building perfection over a year.
For the startup whose growth strategy is "send it to everyone." Cold emails, DMs, outreach, guerrilla tactics — if there's a channel, they've hit it.
A salute to the startups that actually made it out. Whether IPO, acquisition, acqui-hire, or "strategic liquidation," you still beat the odds.
Honoring the fallen. They tried. They built. They learned. Fail fast and try again.
For those born in 2026, honoring the next generation! You're the future we're building for!
For the partners who tolerated the late nights, the stress rants, the pitch decks on the kitchen table, and the "one more meeting" that was actually three.
For the person who helps others grow into the founders, operators, and leaders Louisville needs next.
For the person or organization willing to be an early customer, try something new, and give a startup its first real chance.
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