Awesome Inc decided to ring in the New Year the only way we know how— by bringing the fun. Although the room was flipped 90 degrees, the familiar electricity filled the air. With noisemakers in place and excitement in the air, there was no mistake that the first 5 Across of 2018 was about to take place.

First up was a new way to aid stroke victims and make their rehabilitation more accessible. HandPrint is a 3D-printed, customizable glove that is said to be the first of its kind. Most gloves don’t have the flexibility in personal customization as HandPrint’s product, which sets them apart from their competition.

Next was iReportSource, an efficient way for companies to gather safety information for their employees. According to their website, iReportSource promises to “Enable and equip any employee to report hazards, safety suggestions, near misses, and even incident reports from the field to reduce total time from incident to resolution.” The application takes the heavy load that comes with employee paperwork, such as accident and progress reports, and puts all the information into one handy app.

With a background in gymnastics, Madison Hartung knows a thing or two about how complicated scheduling for gyms can be. Using her history and experience with gyms, Smart Rotation was born after winning second place winner at the 2017 Startup Weekend Lex. Smart Rotation solves the issue of overbooked or underused gyms, due to lack of updated scheduling. This software creates automated resource scheduling to ensure gym space scheduling is always up-to-date.

Pascal Tags is introducing an alternative solution for businesses facing headache-inducing issues, such as inventory distortion, overstocking, and out-of-stocking. Their battery-free tags help businesses keep track of items, while being cheaper than commonly used security tags, such as RFID and barcodes. Winning 2017 Startup Weekend Louisville gave this company a head start in finding a solution to this problem.

“The idea of a new “passive tag” came about because I would always lose my items or forget them before I would leave,” said co-founder Brandon Young. “I noticed that a lot of companies and inventory tags (bluetooth tags) only focus on losing items versus forgetting.”

The publicity from their Startup Weekend win allowed Pascal Tags to discover various new markets including businesses, museums, car dealerships, and more. They have a working prototype that is currently patent pending.

The last company was an inventive way for young high school athletes get a head start in their college careers. RecruitMeKY paves the path for high school students looking for the most feasible way to gain recognition in their sport, while also obtaining athletic scholarships. This recruiting service sends out the students stats to college coaches, while also publishing their information on the RecruitMeKY website. From archery, wrestling and football, this company offers students a chance to make finding a school a homerun.

As the last pitch wrapped up and the judges went into their deliberation, the audience chattered with excitement. When the judges re-emerged, the winner of the fan favorite using the 5 Across Vote app was announced. With the help of an audience drumroll, RecruitMeKY was announced as the fan favorites and the winners of $50, thanks to our sponsor SCORE.

The audience quickly hushed in anticipation of the first 5 Across winner of 2018. With an even larger audience drumroll, Pascal Tags walked away the champions.

“Our next step is to continually test our prototypes, continue to receive letter of intents, and continue to gain market research.” said Young. “All of the current industries want to buy our product right now, but we want to make sure the market size and barrier to entry is very minimal.”

Join us April 25 for the next 5 Across!