LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Thursday evening, 12 local companies received EnterpriseCorp’s HOT & FAST Innovation Awards, presented by Dean Dorton and Hilliard Lyons. The awards honor the companies that are the early-stage innovators (HOT) and fast-growth “gazelles” (FAST) of Greater Louisville’s business community.
“These companies and their teams are working at full-speed to make innovative ideas come to life. It is their big thinking, risk-taking mentality that helps to fuel the economic vitality of the Greater Louisville region and move our entrepreneurial community forward,” said Lisa Bajorinas, GLI’s Vice President of Entrepreneurship and Talent.
These “HOT” and “FAST” companies exemplify high-potential, innovative work being done throughout the region’s entrepreneurial community. Past winners include stand-outs such as Appellis Pharmaceuticals and MobileServe.
The criteria used in this year’s selection of six HOT Companies included being a technology-based company that is using innovation to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, and incorporating some level of intellectual property into their innovation. Each has already gained customer traction as an indication of early adoption and is currently in or has had successful equity raises. All six are clients of EnterpriseCorp.
The criteria used in this year’s selection of six FAST Companies included being a high-growth company that is increasing their revenue by at least 20% annually for three years or more, starting from a revenue base of at least $1 million. This growth pace means that the companies have effectively doubled their revenues.
EnterpriseCorp believes all 12 companies selected are positioned to continue growing and improving Greater Louisville’s economy.
2019’s HOT & FAST Companies are:
Hot Companies
Autymate: Provides a revolutionary software platform for connecting every source of data, helping businesses automate their workflows and generate custom dashboards and reports. Autymate is focused on building relationships with resellers and channel partners to create software solutions that solve their client’s pain points as well as generate new revenue opportunities for partners.
BehaVR: Creates digital therapeutics for behavioral health using Virtual Reality. Their goal is to help people better cope with stress and adverse life events that manifest in chronic pain, addiction, anxiety, depression and higher medical costs due to chronic illness.
Dry Baby: The exclusive manufacturer of liquid and stain repellent infant apparel. Dry Baby solves a problem all caregivers face – messy babies. With their functional children’s apparel fighting against everyday messes, spills, and spit up, they keep babies clean, comfortable, and dry all day.
Podchaser: The ultimate data source and discovery solution for podcasts.
RCM Brain: Uses artificial intelligence (AI) and bot automation (RPA) to accurately manage claim and payment transactions between healthcare providers and insurance payers. Their technology is built from the ground up using AI capabilities to extract data from any source, self-learn advanced rules, and drive predictive workflow to front line billing staff.
Xooker: A hyper-local mobile advertising suite of services that incorporates mobile games for local merchants and restaurants to attract, acquire, engage and reward consumers via their mobile devices. Xooker’s platform includes mobile coupons, deals, loyalty cards, rewards, charity fundraising and more.
Fast Companies
HANDLE: Professionalizes a fragmented, low integrity secondary market in healthcare. Whether clients need to buy or sell, HANDLE makes it easy to source supplies and equipment in one place and list any excess product or end-of-life equipment that are ready to be sold. An easy-to-use marketplace, a mobile tool, a personalized dashboard with matching algorithm based on purchasing history and dedicated buyers saves their clients both time and money.
HMS Global Maritime: Founded and managed by maritime professionals, HMS Global Maritime is one of the industry’s premiere passenger vessel and marine management firms, known and respected for its safe vessel operations, excellent customer service, financial profitability of its clients’ ventures and uncompromising business ethics based on personal relationships.
Rabbit Hole Spirits: A Kentucky-based bourbon and whiskey distiller inspired by modern approaches to whiskey making. They offer guided tours and tastings in a contemporary, industrial-chic facility.
Schedule It: Specializes in automating routing, mapping, scheduling, and file note completion for any property insurance adjuster, including those working for insurers, independent adjusting (IA) firms, and independently. The Schedule It Pro (SIP) automated scheduling solution, optimizes routing to ensure maximum productivity for highly-motivated, competitive adjusters, and speeds claim resolution time for affected policyholders.
Venminder: The market leader in third party risk management solutions reducing the workload essential to meeting today’s demanding regulatory requirements. Their software organizes all things vendor-related and guides users through contract management, risk assessments, due diligence requirements, questionnaires and more. They also assess cybersecurity, information security, business continuity/disaster recovery and financial health.
Wicked Sheets: Offers moisture wicking and cooling sheets through their comfort sleep solutions for night sweats and hot flashes. Free of dyes, bleaching agents, and chemicals that can cause skin irritation, their advanced fabrics are hypoallergenic and have been independently tested and certified free of harmful substances. Sleep wicked!
About EnterpriseCorp
EnterpriseCorp is the entrepreneurial arm of Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) – the region’s leading economic development organization. As an entrepreneurial support organization, EnterpriseCorp assists entrepreneurs with business assessment, customer discovery, capital access, talent acquisition, space selection, strategic introductions and peer-to-peer networking. We support the culture of the community through educational series and recognition events. We collect data and convene leaders to prepare the Louisville region for the next generation of innovators. For more information, visitwww.EnterpriseCorp.com.
About Greater Louisville Inc.
Greater Louisville Inc. – the Metro Chamber of Commerce is where regional business leaders come together to accelerate business competitiveness, economic growth and job creation in the Greater Louisville region. The region’s largest business leadership organization, GLI leads economic and global outreach strategies focused on business attraction; nurtures the entrepreneurial eco-system and fast growth companies; and champions the development of the community’s talent base. As the voice of the business community, GLI advocates for a pro-business environment and facilitates business leadership engagement on issues that impact regional competitiveness. For more information, visit www.GreaterLouisville.com.