Tech Cocktail Takes a Look at Arkansas Startup Scene
Tech Cocktail this week takes a look at the Arkansas startup scene. Innovate Arkansas along with IA adviser Jeff Amerine of the UA are included.
The ARK Challenge and IA client firms CrossFleet and Field Agent are plugged as well.
It's a good look at the big picture plus a look back at the state's entrepreneurial roots from writer Kira Newman. An excerpt:
Organizations like the ARK Challenge and Innovate Arkansas are channeling that spirit by accelerating early-stage startup companies. Communities like The Innovation Hub give them a place to work and connect, and the angel fund Fund Arkansas’ Future infuses them with funding. Ideas are created, refined, and celebrated at events like Startup Weekend Little Rock, the Little Rock Tech Fest, MadebyFew, and DesignedbyFew. And, launched last February, the Startup Arkansas branch of Startup America is connecting all these resources together in one big community.
Besides the legacy of entrepreneurship, companies like Walmart and J.B. Hunt provide something more tangible: customers, mentors, and talent. Rick Webb, the senior vice president of global business processes for Walmart, is a mentor at the ARK Challenge, for example. Local startup CrossFleet was founded by J.B. Hunt employees, who created the LOCATE mobile app for shippers to track and trace fleets. The founders of Collective Bias, who raised over $10.5 million, come from Walmart and MARS Advertising; at MARS, cofounder Amy Callahan helped clients who sell at Walmart and Sam’s Club.