Kentucky Science and Technology
Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation is a statewide non-profit that backs Kentucky startups through its venture arm, Keyhorse Capital, and the state-backed Kentucky Enterprise Fund. Its mandate is broad economic development, and water is a small slice: as of 2026 it has backed 2 water companies, including the electrochemical water-treatment startup ElectraMet.
Compiled by Antoine Walter, (don't) Waste Water, from official filings and direct intelligence in Leviathan.
The take
Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation is the rare backer that is really a state's innovation agency wearing an investor's hat. Founded in 1987, KSTC is a private, statewide non-profit whose job is to grow Kentucky's economy through science and technology, and writing venture cheques is just one tool in a kit that also runs school science fairs and math programs. The investing lives in its venture arm, Keyhorse Capital, which has been backing Kentucky founders for more than two decades.
Kentucky Science and Technology does not chase a water thesis, or any single sector. Through the state-backed Kentucky Enterprise Fund, running since 2002, Keyhorse writes pre-seed and seed cheques (the first, smallest rounds a startup raises) into scalable Kentucky companies across every field. As of 2023 it also administers the venture-capital slice of Kentucky's $117 million federal SSBCI award, money the U.S. Treasury sends states to widen small-business access to capital. Water turns up the way most sectors do here: as economic development.
Kentucky Science and Technology's two water bets sit squarely in that logic. ElectraMet, a Lexington company also known as PowerTech Water, builds electrochemical filtration that pulls dissolved metals out of industrial water so water-heavy plants get cleaner output and cleaner waste streams. Smart Farm Systems brings the other half of the story, an IoT irrigation platform that wires fields with sensors so growers stop wasting it. Both are Kentucky companies solving a Kentucky problem, which is the whole point.
Kentucky Science and Technology reads, for a newcomer, less like a water fund and more like a public-purpose backer that happens to hold water. Its cheques come with a state's patience and a development mission rather than a return-maximising clock, and its water exposure will grow only as Kentucky's own water companies do. Watch Keyhorse Capital's deal flow, not a water strategy, to see where the next bet lands.
Water Commitment Score
Compiled from official filings, third-party records, and direct intelligence from investors and founders, in Leviathan · recomputed monthly · as of Jun 2026.
How they invest
Portfolio · 2 water companies
Invests alongside
Highlighted = profiled on (don't) Waste Water.
Frequently asked
- What does Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation invest in?
- Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation invests in early-stage Kentucky startups across many sectors through its venture arm, Keyhorse Capital, and the state-backed Kentucky Enterprise Fund. Its goal is economic development for Kentucky, not a single industry. In water it has backed 2 companies, including ElectraMet and Smart Farm Systems.
- Who runs Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation?
- Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation is led by president Terry Samuel, who has headed the non-profit since 2017. Its investing runs through Keyhorse Capital, the venture arm managed by Kelby Price, who also serves as KSTC's executive director of venture development from offices in Lexington, Kentucky.
- What is Keyhorse Capital, and how is it related to KSTC?
- Keyhorse Capital is the venture-funding arm of Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, rebranded after more than 20 years of in-house investing. It manages the Kentucky Enterprise Fund, a state-backed pre-seed and seed program running since 2002, and administers the venture slice of Kentucky's federal SSBCI award.
- How many water companies has Kentucky Science and Technology backed?
- Kentucky Science and Technology has backed 2 water companies, according to (don't) Waste Water's tracking: ElectraMet, an electrochemical water-treatment firm also known as PowerTech Water, and Smart Farm Systems, an IoT irrigation platform. (don't) Waste Water rates its water commitment Committed, with its most recent water deal in 2025.
- Where is Kentucky Science and Technology based?
- Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation is based in Lexington, Kentucky, with additional offices in Louisville and Covington. Founded in 1987, it operates statewide across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and its venture arm Keyhorse Capital invests almost exclusively in Kentucky-based companies.