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Feb 22, 2024
When you think of Kentucky - what is the first thing you think of? Venture capital? Probably not. More than likely, you think of bourbon and the Kentucky Derby. Our team at Render Capital is changing the venture capital landscape of Southern Indiana, Louisville, and Kentucky as a whole by being headquartered here. In fact (last time I checked) we are the only institutionally backed venture firm with a presence in Kentucky.
Reserve your tickets for the Derby Tech Summit today!
Here's a question: do you know how much was bet on the Kentucky Derby in 2023?
A record $188 Million - all for a 2 minute race.
Another question: how much was invested in Kentucky venture capital in 2023?
Not just in two minutes, not two days but in 365 days: $115 Million.
It seems only natural for us to lean in to one of the largest economic engines and iconic events in Kentucky, merge the two with our focus on increasing venture capital allocations to the area.
For the 2024 Render Competition we are deploying $1.2M all in one night. Our Render Capital competition will be only one event out of a power packed 48 hours of capital, content, and connections. But before we get to the competition we will have two days of activities curated for founders, investors, and community partners.
Day 1
The Derby Tech Summit will open to the public starting with a kick off event the evening of April 30 at Frost Brown Todd from 5pm-8pm, where drinks and refreshments will be provided along with an opportunity to get to know the Render Capital team, investors, founders, winners, and more!
Day 2
Day 2 will be another power packed day at the U of L football stadium with over 20 venture capital investors in attendance, with $1B in assets under management.The day will include a cornerstone venture capital panel of fund of funds managers including JB Kropp from Cintrifuse Capital and Aaron Gillum from 50 South Capital / Northern Trust, that you will NOT want to miss.
We will also host Startup Grind, have an investor reverse pitch where VC’s will have to pitch their fund to startups vs. the other way around which is what we typically see in the venture space.
We will also have a CPG - consumer packaged goods - focused lunch. With the hubs / headquarters of industry behemoths like Yum Brands, Kroger, Procter and Gamble and fulfillment headquarters of UPS global air hub, Amazon Prime’s air hub at Cincinnati’s CVG airport and Wayfair here in Kentucky right along the commerce corridor as our friends at eGateway capital call it - another must attend event. Finally, we will follow the CPG lunch with the State of Entrepreneurship in America.
The culmination of the Derby Tech Summit will be with the 2024 Render Competition Showcase, overlooking the Kentucky Derby “Champions Day” held at the University of Louisville Cardinal Football Stadium’s Angel's Envy Bourbon Club. See there we packed in all
the things Kentucky is known for AND what we want it to be known for!
We will have food, drink, good times, connections and most importantly check writers in the room writing checks not on horses but on the jockeys of awesome early stage venture backable founders! Register here for the Derby Tech Summit.
Are you looking to scale your startup? Apply for the 2024 Render Competition
