Just like that, another year of 5 Across is in the books, capped by an epic finale. The 2014 5 Across Finals competition saw the winners from each previous competition in 2014 go head-to-head in a night that promised a $4000 grand prize. The event packed the house and teams pitched on a grander stage, wowing both the judges and audience. The five 2014 5 Across winners, You Saw Me, CompleteSet, Blink Scan, Super Soul, and Healthy Nation, came prepared and delivered their best pitch to the judges.

Four Kentucky entrepreneurs, Ben Self, founder of West Sixth Brewing, Chris Young, President of Bluegrass Angels, Randall Stevens, founder of ArchVision and Punndit, and Daniel Johnsen, founder of Recovery Station, volunteered their time to select the grand prize winner. Amid drumroll and a mountain of confetti, the winner of this year’s 5 Across Finals was CompleteSet, pitched by Gary Darna.

CompleteSet is a web and soon-to-be smartphone application for collectors to archive and hunt for hard-to-find items. It hosts exhaustive lists of items relating to things from Star Wars to sports memorabilia, and has attracted a growing and loyal user base. Additionally, the founders recently raised over $650,000 in funding and seriously impressed the judges with the thoroughness of the business model.

The runner up was Josh Young from Healthy Nation, who pitched Vegy Vida, a dip with a bitter-blocking agent to encourage children to eat more vegetables.

It’s been another great year of 5 Across, with teams from all across Kentucky coming to show their value to our judges. We are grateful for all of our judges; our sponsors: Awesome Inc, Kentucky Innovation Network, Lexington Venture Club, Commerce Lexington; and coaches who helped get the teams ready for primetime: Rusty Leskiv, Seth Solomons, Rick Hahn, and Brian Poe. Thank you for a great 2014, see you at Awesome Inc for the February event!

Missed the event? Check out the pictures on our Flickr album!