A step-by-step roadmap for starting a business as a University of Kentucky student — pairing campus resources like Gatton College and VACE with Lexington's startup community at Awesome Inc.
The fastest way to plug into University of Kentucky entrepreneurship is to show up to a meeting. E-Club meets biweekly Wednesdays at 6:30 PM and is open to every major — engineering, arts, sciences, business, whatever. No idea or startup is required.
Sign up on BBNvolved and jump into the GroupMe. You'll get access to workshops, VC panels, and pitch competitions throughout the year.
The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship (VACE) inside Gatton College is UK's on-campus startup hub. VACE runs founder bootcamps, one-on-one coaching, and the Gatton Student Entrepreneurship (GSE) pitch competition — all free to UK students.
Even if you're not a business major, Gatton's programs are open to you.
Downtown Lexington has a real startup ecosystem, and Awesome Inc is the anchor. Their 5 Across monthly pitch nights, Techstars Startup Weekend, and founder programming are all student-accessible. Many UK founders build their first real network there before graduation.
E-Club runs joint events with Awesome Inc every semester — showing up to those is the easiest on-ramp.
You don't need investors on day one — you need reps pitching. UK and Lexington have a stack of competitions, most with real cash prizes:
Winning is nice; iterating your pitch in front of judges is the actual prize.
Mentors accelerate everything. VACE has advisors on staff, Awesome Inc runs a mentor network, and E-Club officers make introductions across UK, Gatton, and the local founder community.
When it's time to build a team, recruit from E-Club and adjacent Gatton clubs first — you already know they show up. From there, look at UK's design, engineering, and CS communities for cofounders with complementary skills.
The next E-Club meeting is your on-ramp. Show up once — we'll take it from there.
