The Lexington Times
AWESOME INC
Volume 1
December 31, 2024
348 E. Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507
CELEBRATES 15 YEARS Building Kentucky’s Startup Community Since 2009
The Awesome Inc community gathered to celebrate this huge milestone on April 16, 2024.
In 2007, Awesome Inc Co-founders Brian Raney and Luke Murray were inspired to embark on a journey of entrepreneurship after meeting with the University of Kentucky’s President, Lee Todd. He gave them confidence and permission to fail; which was all they needed to take the dive into the unknown. Two years later, Brian and Luke teamed up with Nathan Fort, Nick Such, and Rachel Cunningham to form Awesome Inc, born with the goal of building an entrepreneurial community in Kentucky so that others could pursue their definition of awesome. Since then, Awesome Inc has launched programs like the 5 Across Pitch Competition,
the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, Web Developer Bootcamp, the Awesome Fellowship startup accelerator, and the Awesome Fund. Through this programming, 179 Kentuckians have changed their lives by learning to code, 86 Kentucky startups have grown through the Fellowship, and over 375 founders have been given a new platform to pitch on at 5 Across. Looking ahead to the next 15 years, Brian Raney says, “The potential for our startup community in Kentucky is beyond what we can imagine. We can’t wait to help so many more pursue their definition of awesome!”
awesomeinc.org