April 6th, 2026
In the Spotlight: Lexington’s Startup Ecosystem
Happy Monday, friends. Logan here.
This week I sat down with Garrett Fahrbach and Ben Strevy from Awesome Inc and the Awesome Fund to do something we haven't done in a while on the pod - just take a step back and look at where Lexington's startup ecosystem actually is right now.
The short answer: it's in a fundamentally different place than it was even five years ago.
Awesome Inc has worked with 98 startups through the fellowship. Those companies have collectively created over a thousand jobs and raised more than $240 million. And with the Awesome Fund now writing checks - $5 million backed by 42 LPs who are almost all entrepreneurs themselves - there's real capital flowing to founders at the earliest stages. Ben made a point that stuck with me: the ecosystem now has all the pieces in place. Capital, talent, customers, support infrastructure - it's all here. It might not be at the scale of the coasts, but the pieces are in place.
What's shifting the game even further is AI. Founders are coming in more "baked" than they used to. They're prototyping with AI tools before they even apply to the fellowship. Aaron Jordan at Pebble vibe-coded his entire platform as a non-technical founder, then brought in a developer to make it production-ready. At Valent, we're running three developers who are operating like a team of fifteen. The cost of building just dropped, and that changes everything about what's possible here - especially in a market where the whole playbook has been "we don't have enough engineering talent."
Ben had an insight I haven't heard anyone else articulate: ecosystem building is shifting from nonprofit-driven to investment-driven. When you can actually make money investing in early-stage companies at this scale, the whole incentive structure changes. That might be the most important shift of all.
What We Discussed
Where the ecosystem stands - Garrett and Ben's in-the-arena assessment: what's improved, what's working, and where we still have room to grow.
The front door - How Five Across, University Entrepreneurship Clubs, and events serve as the entry point. Making entrepreneurship visible and accessible to people who didn't grow up around it.
AI is changing the math - Founders arriving further along, building faster, running leaner. What this means for Kentucky specifically, where the talent gap has always been the excuse.
Capital is here now - The Awesome Fund model: smaller checks, more companies, entrepreneur-LPs. Why sub-$100M exits are the real game for regional ecosystems.
Who carries the torch - The succession question, and why ecosystem building shifting from nonprofit to investment might be the unlock.
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 - Awesome Fellowship Spring 2026 Demo Day & Lunch
Join us at Awesome Inc for lunch and an exclusive look at the newest, high-caliber additions to Awesome Inc’s startup accelerator, the Fellowship.
Your chance to bump into local startup founders, corporate innovators, and community leaders at Lexington’s tech and innovation hub is coming up on April 21st from 11:30 - 1:00pm.
You’ll be in the room with:
- 12 current Fellowship companies and alumni founders
- 5 Across judges and past presenters
- Corporate leaders from our region
- Esteemed partners, sponsors, and investors
As a subscriber of Middle Tech, you can register for free at this link.
We hope you enjoy this episode! If you have any thoughts after listening, feel free to shoot me a message at [email protected]
Have a great week, friends!
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