NKY Entrepreneur Fund receives $30,000 grant for startup support

Blue North received a $30,000 grant to support the NKY Entrepreneur Fund.

The grant from the Truist Foundation will help the NKY Fund expand its partnership with Main Street Ventures to increase the number of Northern Kentucky-based startups and small businesses that receive grants to build and scale their companies.

The NKY Entrepreneur Fund is focused on supporting Northern Kentucky-based entrepreneurs and organizations, including startups, support organizations, educational vehicles and accelerators. The fund’s inaugural initiative, launched in 2023, was a partnership with Cincinnati-based Main Street Ventures.

In the first year of the partnership, Main Street Ventures’ financial support of Northern Kentucky entrepreneurs increased from 8% of funding in previous years to 34% of funding in 2023. In total, 23 companies received nearly $366,000 in grants, half of which were supported by the NKY Entrepreneur Fund. 

Companies that received support in 2023 include:

• Golden Gelato (Covington) received a grant to purchase a new authentic Italian gelato cart for events and catering.
• 4 Mile Wine (Camp Spring) used its grant to make capital investments in inventory and point-of-purchase sales materials.
• Body Bakery (Newport) purchased equipment to improve the speed and capacity of production through its grant.
• Bailout Systems (Covington) leveraged its grant to cover prototype materials and machining costs.

Main Street Ventures recently announced the first recipients of 2024 grants including three companies supported by the NKY Entrepreneur Fund.

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