Investors & Funding Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce

Cultivating a Women-Led, Women’s Health Ecosystem

On this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by the innovative women who make up the inaugural cohort of FemHealth Founders. FemHealth Founders is a women-led, women-centric innovation hub that provides validation, mentorship and investment for female founders offering solutions to women’s health-related issues. With FemHealth Founders recently concluding its first accelerator, James sits down with leaders of the five participating startups, including: Jaki Johnson, Founder and CEO of WellMiss; Meredith Brunette, Co-Founder and CEO of Bunnii; Kristen Davidson, Founder and CEO of Function Feedback; Meghan Doyle, Co-Founder and CEO of Partum Health; and Sheereen Brown and Asia Barnes, Co-Founders of Between. Throughout the episode, cohort members discuss the inspiration behind their companies, the solutions they provide for their customers and their experiences during the first FemHealth Founders accelerator. Additionally, James interviews two of the dynamic trio behind FemHealth Founders, Elizabeth Prenger and April Roy, who share how Bentonville has embraced their program and made it possible.

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Building Fifty Women-Led Companies in the Heartland

On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Natalie Shew, Co-Founder of FemHealth Founders, an innovation hub catalyzing and supporting women-led companies that offer solutions to women’s health-related issues. With over eleven years of experience in nonprofit and for-profit management, Natalie is also the Founder and CEO of EmployWell, a healthcare engagement platform on a mission to take better care of the people taking care of us. Throughout the episode, James and Natalie discuss FemHealth Founders’ first accelerator, the struggles women entrepreneurs face and why Bentonville is the perfect location for femhealth companies to launch, build and scale.

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Propelling the Future of Mobility

On this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Cyrus Sigari, who was appointed by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as Chairman of the Arkansas Council on Future Mobility (ACFM). The ACFM recently released its Arkansas Future Mobility Report, which provides a bold, visionary and specific plan to ensure the state’s leadership in advanced mobility. Cyrus is also Co-founder and Managing Partner of UP.Partners. UP.Partners is an early venture capital firm building companies that move people and goods cleaner, faster, safer and at a lower cost on the ground, in the air, over the sea and in space. Additionally, Cyrus is Co-founder and Executive Chairman for jetAVIVA, a global brand that selects, acquires and sells high-performance aircraft–and he serves as a Board Member of Bentonville-based Game Composites, which designs and manufactures the world’s finest and most nimble aerobatic aircraft. Furthermore, he leads UP.Summit, the definitive annual gathering of leaders from around the world who are rethinking the future of transportation. Throughout the episode, James and Cyrus discuss the Arkansas Future Mobility Council’s recommendations and how Bentonville is a key driver in the State of Arkansas’ leadership in advanced mobility.

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Accelerating Outdoor Industry Startups – Part 2

This Bentonville Beacon episode is part two of a bonus series that highlights the third cohort of the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP). James Bell is joined by Brent Robinson, Founder of Greenway Bike Co., Alex Huesing from Cloud Pad, Marley Blonsky, Co-founder of All Bodies on Bikes and Eliot Jackson with Reggy. GORP is a Bentonville-based business incubator focused on the development of innovative solutions within the outdoor recreation industry. Its third cohort features a mountain climbing startup and five cycling companies that have access to team mentoring, workshop training and dedicated product/service development to help them launch, build and scale globally. Throughout the episode, James, Brent, Alex, Marley and Eliot discuss the intent behind each of their companies, how they’ve benefited from participating in GORP’s third cohort and how the Bentonville community is helping them build and expand their businesses.

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Accelerating Outdoor Industry Startups – Part 1

This Bentonville Beacon episode is part one of a bonus series that highlights the third cohort of the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP). First, host James Bell is joined by Phil Shellhammer, who was recently appointed by Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders to the Natural State Advisory Council. Phil is Director of Business Incubation for the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Arkansas, and he is responsible for GORP. GORP is a Bentonville-based business incubator focused on the development of innovative solutions within the outdoor recreation industry. After speaking with Phil, James sits down with co-founders of two companies in GORP’s third cohort, including Michael Burton and Clayton Woodruff, CEO and COO of UNCL Co, and Tracy Byrd from Best Ride of Your Life, b-royl. Throughout the episode, James, Phil, Michael, Clayton and Tracy discuss these companies, how the GORP experience is advantageous to founders and why the diversity of GORP’s mentors is important.

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Expanding Access to Funding for Small Businesses

On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Martha Londagin, the inaugural Capital Access Manager for the Northwest Arkansas Kiva Hub, a non-profit that increases access to capital for entrepreneurs. Additionally, Martha is a Business Consultant at Startup Junkie, an organization that offers consulting services to entrepreneurs at no cost, and she is the creator of HER Entrepreneur Journey, a yearly series to encourage the development of woman-owned businesses in NWA. Throughout the episode, James and Martha discuss how Kiva provides funding opportunities for entrepreneurs when conventional lenders can’t, ways Startup Junkie and HER Entrepreneur Journey positively impact founders, and why Bentonville’s culture is ideal for small business owners.

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Building the Future of Frontline Work & Web3

On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Josh Stanley, CEO and Managing Partner of Cartwheel, a startup studio that creates B2B SaaS companies. Cartwheel ideates, validates, co-founds and funds B2B SaaS and Web3 businesses that accelerate capabilities. In addition to Cartwheel, Josh is also the Co-Founder of PushKin and Hashku. PushKin is a B2B SaaS communication platform for franchise operators who need a better way to communicate with their deskless employees, and Hashku is a newly established company that provides brands and agencies with software to plan, launch and maintain their new digital assets. Throughout the episode, James and Josh discuss the difference between venture and startup studios, the success of Cartwheel and Bentonville’s entrepreneurship community.

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Bonus Episode | NWA Tech Summit Live

The NWA Tech Summit is the Heartland’s premier technology conference and serves to enhance, prepare, and diversify the local Northwest Arkansas economy. In its ninth year, the NWA Tech Summit came back with 1,700 registered attendees when it returned in-person to downtown Bentonville. The NWA Tech Summit is an event hosted by the Greater Bentonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and it is supported by the Walton Family Foundation, Northwest Arkansas Council, Walmart, J. B. Hunt, Tyson Foods, Salesforce, and the University of Arkansas Blockchain Center of Excellence.

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Winning Commerce through Bentonville’s STOPWATCH

On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Meagan Bowman, Founder and CEO of STOPWATCH, a cloud-based commerce software. STOPWATCH allows businesses to thrive in the blinding speed and complexity of commerce by optimizing profit across retailers in real time. In addition to leading STOPWATCH, Meagan is also a member of Fast Company’s Executive Board and a full-time contributor to the Forbes Technology Council. Throughout the episode, James and Meagan discuss how COVID impacted supply chain management and consumer behavior, the specific challenges women in business face and the specialty of Bentonville’s startup ecosystem.

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Funding Northwest Arkansas’ Next Generation of High-Growth Startups

In this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell sits down with Sterling Smith, Managing Director of Atento Capital’s Northwest Arkansas hub. Sterling spent time as a computer program analyst and software engineer before starting his journey as a serial entrepreneur and VC. His experience in operations has shaped his entrepreneurial and VC development, but ultimately, his drive to add diversity to the investment world sets him apart. Throughout the episode, he and James discuss his career, Atento Capital’s investment in the Heartland, the reasons for Bentonville’s success, and much more.

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Investors & Funding

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