Successful Vogt Awards Candidates Share These Traits
By Lisa Bajorinas, Vogt Awards Program Director
The Vogt Invention and Innovation Awards, presented by the Community Foundation of Louisville, provide a distinctive and exciting opportunity for entrepreneurs in the Louisville area to advance their businesses. We champion local innovators who are transforming industries globally while strengthening our community. Each year, up to six early-stage for-profit companies are chosen to receive $25,000 in non-dilutive grant funding, along with participation in a 10-week accelerator program. This program includes essential resources such as startup coaching, mentorship, business workshops, strategic networking, and public recognition — all thoughtfully designed to fast-track company growth. New this year, selected participants may also qualify for an additional $25,000 in capital from a partnering organization.
This year’s recipients will join the ranks of Vogt Awards alumni Feedcoyote, Sofab Inks, Immersive Hearing Technologies, RxLightning, Forecastr, Xena Intelligence, EnVue Health (formerly Melanated Healthcare), borderless, and FreshFry, to name a few. Your business can benefit from:
- Financial support, including $25,000 of non-dilutive grant funding as well as an additional $25,000 in capital from a generous partner (pending eligibility)
- Personalized startup coaching from some of Louisville’s top advisors
- Targeted mentor matching with seasoned entrepreneurs and investors
- Expert-led business workshops on critical topics
- High-level networking opportunities within Louisville’s vibrant startup community
- Comprehensive investor pitch preparation
- Strategic connections to angel investors, venture capital funds, industry influencers, potential customers, and key partners
- Program topics include financial modeling, product/market fit, investment readiness, lead generation, and sales. To cap it all off, you’ll present your business at this year’s Demo Day in November 2025.
2024 Vogt Awards Cohort
What We’re Looking For
The best candidates for the Vogt Awards are founders and entrepreneurs who are open to guidance, run businesses that show potential, and care deeply about fixing big problems. You’re eager to shake things up in your industry by coming up with new ideas, getting more customers, and forming important partnerships. Plus, you can explain why you’re the perfect fit to tackle these challenges.
Qualities of A Strong Applicant
- The business is beyond the concept/idea stage and has an early prototype of the technology.
- The business is developing an innovative product or service. The Vogt Awards define innovation as a new idea or the invention of a new product or service that creates customer demand.
- The business is in the early stages, with customer revenue less than $250,000/year to date.
- The business has a lifetime funding maximum of $1,000,000 as of application submittal (this includes grants, investments, and loans but excludes founders’ personal investments).
- The business is developing a business model that is scalable — revenue has the potential to grow quickly, along with improving profitability.
Stronger consideration will be given to businesses that include and describe the following aspects in the founder’s application.
The business:
- Is using technology to develop a new product or service.
- Addresses a business challenge
- Has conducted customer discovery to validate their product/service.
- Has a large market.
- Has a unique competitive advantage.
- Is developing a scalable business model.
Pictured left to right: Kela Ivonye and Guatam Nain, founders of River Guide, 2024 Vogt Invention & Innovation Awards Recipients
The 2025 Vogt Awards selection committee will evaluate the strength and merit of each applicant based on the following characteristics:
Leadership: The founder(s) understands the problem they are solving, cares about the problem, is coachable, and the team can execute/scale the business.
Solution: The product/service provides a solution for a business problem or challenge
Validation: The business has validated the market through customer discovery.
Market: There is a large, total addressable market and customers are willing to pay for the product/service.
Advantage: The business has a unique competitive advantage that is distinct from its competitors.
Scalable: The business is designed to become a large company, by creating a new market or disrupting an existing one.
Economic Impact: The business is potentially venture-backable and will have an eventual economic impact on the Louisville region (e.g.: job creation, payroll taxes, talent attraction, indirect investment in community).
Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of the 2025 Vogt Awards program! Apply by June 9, 2025.