LifeSciKY has teamed up with New Riff Distilling for the second year in a row to release an exclusive single-barrel bourbon to benefit the growing life sciences community.
Proceeds from the collaboration will fund lab bench grants at Covington’s life sciences incubator, lowering the barrier to entry for startups by providing the space and equipment needed to scale scientific discoveries. Blue North, the Northern Kentucky-based entrepreneurial hub, will match all bourbon sales and bottle pre-orders generated through this initiative, dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000.
This year’s release builds on the success of last year’s inaugural fundraising effort, which generated two $10,000 grants: the Science is Bourbon Bench Grant awarded to Clareo Biosciences, made possible by the New Riff Distilling collaboration with support from Blue North, and the Stronger Together Bench, awarded to PAN Biologics, founded and sponsored by McD Concrete. The financial support allowed PAN Biologics to relocate its offices from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Covington, and Louisville-based Clareo Biosciences used the funds to expand its footprint into Northern Kentucky.
These grants, combined with a donation from the William J. Motto Family, inspired the creation of the LifeSciKY Stronger Together Grant Program. This new initiative is designed to provide entrepreneurs, researchers and emerging founders with grant-supported access to laboratory infrastructure, equipment, mentorship and commercialization resources.
“Many promising entrepreneurs never get the opportunity to test their ideas because they lack access to the infrastructure, equipment and support needed to get started. That’s why LifeSciKY is here,” said Christin Godale, executive director of LifeSciKY. “Our new Stronger Together Grant Program takes our mission a step further by helping remove barriers to innovation by providing founders with access to the capital and the resources needed to transform ideas into real-world solutions.”
The single-barrel bourbon will be hand selected by representatives of LifeSciKY, Blue North and community partners.
“Northern Kentucky’s superpower is working together to lift up our community, and it’s no different when we’re supporting entrepreneurs and the region’s growing life sciences ecosystem,” said Dave Knox, executive director of Blue North. “By providing matching funds for the Science is Bourbon Bench, we’re proud to work alongside LifeSciKY to help remove barriers for early-stage innovators and provide them with greater access to the incredible resources that can turn promising ideas into realities.”
Bottles of the single barrel bourbon can be pre-ordered from July 13 to Aug. 4 for $69.99 each at the link here. A limited number of bottles will be available for purchase. Pickup instructions will be coordinated by LifeSciKY and will be sent to purchasers.
