The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship (VACE), part of University of Kentucky’s Gatton College of Business and Economics, announced the graduation of 25 teams from the fall 2018 Entrepreneurs Bootcamp program.

“The teams persevered in pursuing their business ideas and going through the stages of customer discovery,” said Bootcamp Manager Mariam Gorjian. “It has been a long journey for these entrepreneurs, and we are excited to see them complete this intensive, 14-week long program.”

Winners of the Fall 2018 Bootcamp Finale:

• First Place: $1,000 – Wild Dog Physics;
• Second Place: $800 – Digital Turfbot; 
• Third Place: $600 – GenomEqs;
• Fourth Place: $400 – SynapsEHR;
• Fifth Place: $300 – LASSO Diagnostics; and 
• Sixth Place: $200 – Active Therapy Systems.

Three Director’s Awards of $100 each were presented to teams who finished outside the top six, yet demonstrated the true entrepreneurial spirit. Those awards went to: True Kick Training, W.O.R.T.H. and Sigma Energy.

VACE Director Warren Nash said, “It has been very gratifying to watch all of these teams progress with the development of their ideas, as well as maturing in their pitching skills and significantly increase the level of their overall business acumen.”

VACE also announced the pilot launch of its Bootcamp 2.0, set to begin Jan. 9, 2019. More information can be obtained by emailing any of the following: warren.nash@uky.edu, adam.evans@uky.edu or  mariamgorjian@uky.edu.