Arkansas Business Takes a Look at ADFA's Role in Startup Ecosystem
The Innovate page in this week's Arkansas Business takes a look at the Arkansas Development Finance Authority's role in building the foundation from which the state's tech startup ecosystem is emerging.
ADFA's financial assistance programs have proven to be lifeblood for many IA client firms, including Movista of Bentonville.
Here's a sample from this week's AB:
Movista found early nourishment in the form of seed funding from the Arkansas Science & Technology Authority and the Arkansas Development Finance Authority’s Arkansas Venture Capital Investment Trust funds, as well as mentoring and guidance from Innovate Arkansas, a joint venture of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and Winrock International.
Without the services and funding provided by those agencies, Seggebruch admits, “We would not exist.”
Movista represents a prime example of the kind of investments made by AVCIT. Through 2013, the trust had invested roughly $28 million in 67 Arkansas small businesses and startups with an economic impact to the state estimated at $503.7 million.
“The entrepreneurial ecosystem is becoming stronger by the day, and we are proud of the Arkansas Venture Capital Investment Trust’s role in helping it expand,” said Brad Henry, ADFA vice president of development finance. “We are also very excited about the future of the companies in which we’ve invested. These companies are in turn creating jobs that pay higher than the state average and are thus helping to keep some of the most promising talent here in Arkansas.”
Read the full thing here. And here's a more detailed look at ADFA's four funds.