Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Startups

Bentonville has a rich history of entrepreneurial spirit and business innovation—and it is the birthplace of the world’s largest company. In recent years, the city has transformed into a hub for startups and entrepreneurs, attracting talent and investment from across the country.

In addition to its highly educated and talented workforce, exceptional quality of life and low cost of living, Bentonville’s supportive business ecosystem offers access to a substantial breadth of top-tier resources for small businesses and startups, making it an ideal destination for entrepreneurs and business leaders looking to launch, build, scale or expand their businesses. Although not an exhaustive list, Bentonville’s entrepreneur support organizations include:

Business Support Organizations

Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center (ASBTDC) – Bentonville assists all types of for-profit businesses, from home-based to high-tech. ASBTDC provides one-to-one confidential consulting and cutting-edge market research at no charge, plus expands business expertise through educational events.

Bentonville Economic Development (BECON) connects entrepreneurs and business leaders to community resources to help them start, build, scale and expand their businesses. BECON is involved in business retention and expansion, business attraction, entrepreneurial and small business development, business advocacy, workforce attraction, technology-led economic development and sustainable economic development.

Accelerators, Incubators and Startup Studios

Builders+Backers NWA provides funding, resources and support needed to take ideas from start to scale. Through Builders+Backers’ Pebble Fund and Idea Accelerator, builders learn world-class experimentation approaches, low-code tools and the art of being scrappy.

Cartwheel Startup Studio creates businessto-business (B2B) software as a service (SaaS) companies. Cartwheel focuses on essential workers, distributed teams, and Web3.

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) NWA works to ensure all residents have the same opportunity to start and grow businesses. EforAll NWA provides resources and support, including accelerators in both English and Spanish languages.

Endeavor Heartland is the Northwest Arkansas office of the leading global community of, by, and for high-impact entrepreneurs.

BENTONVILLE’S SUPPORTIVE BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM OFFERS ACCESS TO A SUBSTANTIAL BREADTH OF TOP-TIER RESOURCES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND STARTUPS machine learning, and health- and med-tech. Greenhouse represents the University of Arkansas’ incubation presence in Bentonville. It currently houses the Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program and will soon be home to two more incubators for BioDesign and Digital Products. Additional programs include membership for small businesses with regional service models, including access to co-working space, student interns, consultation, workshops and communitybuilding events.

Endeavor inspires high-growth founders, supporting and investing to help them scale faster, and providing a platform to pay it forward— thereby compounding their individual impact.

Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP) is a business incubation initiative focused on the development of entrepreneurs who are creating innovative products and services within the outdoor recreation industry. GORP offers two levels of support for entrepreneurs in the idea-to-launch stages of businesses development.

HealthTech Arkansas operates accelerators for cardiovascular technologies and biotherapeutics companies. The HeartX accelerator guarantees at least two hospital pilot projects or clinical trials for participating early-stage companies, plus upfront investment. The BioAR Trial Accelerator, in partnership with Symbiosis, helps biotherapeutics companies in late pre-clinical and early-clinical stages of development bring groundbreaking therapies to cuttingedge clinical care and innovative medicine.

Startup Junkie supports, inspires, and educates entrepreneurs and innovators by providing nocost, one-on-one consulting, events, workshops and programs, plus access to capital and talent.

University of Arkansas Global Campus –Bentonville offers professional and workforce development classes from both its academic colleges and industry experts. Its customized training program helps businesses fill skills gaps and boost productivity.

FemHealth Founders empowers female founders to build and lead profitable, women-centric companies offering solutions to women’s health-related issues. The organization aims to launch 50 women-led femhealth companies in the Heartland by 2025.

Fuel offers 12-week enterprise-ready accelerators that match seed and growthstage tech startups with key enterprise partners to accelerate the adoption of tangible technology solutions. Fuel’s accelerators include artificial intelligence and

Plug And Play Tech Center NWA combines Silicon Valley’s established startup ecosystem with Northwest Arkansas’ world-leading corporations to create the ultimate ecosystems in supply chain and outdoor recreation. Plug And Play also offers local accelerators and summits in these sectors.

Venture Noire brings high potential founders and experts together with public and private corporations to develop and lead projects that help eradicate the quality-of-life gap. Venture Noire offers several programs, including The Muse Accelerator, backed by Ulta Beauty, which helps early-stage BIPOC beauty brands prepare for retail readiness.

Capital Funding Options

412 Angels is a first-in-kind angel network and partnership connecting neighboring Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Northwest Arkansas. 412 Angels offers the corridor’s founders, entrepreneurs and corporate executives opportunities to learn and invest together.

46VC’s Kinetic Fund focuses on early-stage investments in enabling technologies that attack big problems for impact across the economy. 46VC makes investments of $250K-$1.5M with an opportunity for follow-on funding.

A-Street Ventures invests in early-, growth- and late-stage companies, concentrated on digital educational instruction and new ways to assess students. The $200M+ fund focuses on advancing public K-12 education across the US.

Atento Capital NWA focuses on returns, quality job creation, community building, and being helpful. The firm makes minority investments in seed-stage and early-stage companies.

Kiva Hub NWA provides crowd-sourced microloans to ventures across Northwest Arkansas. With Kiva, entrepreneurs may raise up to $15,000 at 0% interest and no fees with terms up to 3 years.

NewRoad Capital Partners invests in high-growth and growth buyout opportunities in US supply chain and logistics, plus consumer and packaged goods, sectors in the lower market.

RZC Investments is a multi-strategy investment firm focused on deploying into operating businesses. RZC’s unique and stable base affords participation in venture capital, growth equity or buy-out opportunities via equity check sizes ranging from $3M to $200M.

SymBiosis focuses on advancing biotherapeutics innovations for serious and life-threatening diseases. The firm invests in groundbreaking medicines across disease area, financing stage, and geography, with a focus on programs in, or about to enter, human trials.

Conferences

Heartland Summit is an annual event that brings together leading thinkers, innovators and investors, with the mission of changing the narrative about the middle of the country and to kick-start economic growth. The conference showcases exciting innovation happening between the coasts, sparks frank conversations about challenges the region faces and builds networks to sustain economic growth and problem solving across the country.

Northwest Arkansas Technology Summit is the Heartland’s premier technology conference. The annual event attracts more than 1,700 attendees, nearly 150 speakers and a diverse audience of technology professionals, entrepreneurs and industry leaders from nearly 30 states to share knowledge, network and learn about the latest trends and developments in technology.

UP.Summit is an annual gathering of the world’s most innovative minds rethinking the future of transportation. The event attracts CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies, founders of the most inspiring start-ups, and capital allocators representing more than $1 trillion of assets under management. The summit focuses on moving people and goods cleaner, faster, safer, and at lowercost – on the ground, in the air, on the sea, and in space. UP.Summit rotates annually between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Bentonville.

Bella Vista: A Nature Lover’s Paradise

Bella Vista really is a nature lover’s paradise! Whether it's mountain biking, hiking, golf, kayaking or fishing, this city has what you’re looking for. Bella Vista’s three trail systems, Little Sugar, the Back 40 and Blowing Springs Park, combine to offer more than 100 miles of everevolving cross country, roller coaster-like flow, spicy-blue intermediate, technical black diamond, adaptive, and even a beginner loop with an outdoor art gallery.

Originally conceived as a summer vacation destination in 1915, Bella Vista is now home to nearly 30,000 full-time residents while still appealing to those adventurous travelers seeking a memorable weekend getaway. Google “places to stay in Bella Vista” and you’ll see they’ve got no chain hotels. What they do have, however, is a wide variety of stylish vacation rentals located right alongside the trail systems. Many rentals have direct trail access so you could spend the whole weekend hiking and biking without ever having to jump back in your car.

Feel free to mix it up with a few rounds of golf on one of Bella Vista’s seven scenic courses, rough it in style at the beautiful Blowing Springs

Centerton: Growing Suburban Community

Centerton is a growing city of nearly 18,000 residents due west of Bentonville. Incorporated in 1914, Centerton is located near the center of Benton County, which is how it got its name.

Small town values, guided growth, and preservation of historical, cultural and natural heritage are just a few of the core principles that make Centerton a wonderful place to live. The city takes pride in offering a wholesome lifestyle with a progressive approach to local business.

Centerton consistently scores high on rankings for quality of life. It has been ranked one of the best places in Arkansas to raise a family by Niche.com.

Living in Centerton offers a suburban feel, and many people own their homes. Spend time in Centerton’s many local parks to relax with family or visit the Kinyon Sports Complex for an afternoon of outdoor fun. Coming soon: a splash pad and dog park.

Centerton schools are operated by the Bentonville School District, the No. 1 district in the state. Bentonville West High School is located in Centerton with more than 1,800 students in grades 9-12, as well as Grimsley Junior High School and Centerton Gamble Elementary School. Located off Highway 102, Centerton is conveniently accessible for commuters.

The city has many outstanding neighborhoods with beautiful homes awaiting new owners. Take the short drive to Centerton and see! Visit centertonar.us to learn more.

RV Park and Campground, or take the paved Metfield Connector to the Razorback Greenway and pedal all the way to Fayetteville. For residents and overnight visitors with a vacation rental guest pass, Bella Vista also has seven private lakes ideal for fishing, swimming, boating, photography, wildlife watching or simply enjoying Mother Nature.

It’s easy to see why U.S. News & World Report, CNNMoney.com and Money have ranked Bella Vista as one of America’s top places to live. To learn more, visit discoverbellavistaar.com, bellavistaar.gov or bellavistapoa.com

Pea Ridge: Alive with History

Pea Ridge is a gateway to many of Northwest Arkansas’ worldclass offerings, while maintaining the charm and comfort of smalltown living.

Bentonville’s adjacent neighbor to the east, Pea Ridge is just a few miles from the Arkansas-Missouri state line, Walmart’s corporate headquarters, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

The city is home to the Pea Ridge National Military Park, the site of one of the largest Civil War battles west of the Mississippi River. The military park is one of the most pristine in the National Park System, encompassing 4,300 acres and a seven-mile historic tour.

The Pea Ridge School District, which serves more than 2,200 students in grades Pre-K to 12, is the city’s largest employer. The Pea Ridge City Park serves families with a playground, walking trails and a new splash pad. Pea Ridge continues to value the rich history and heritage of the area. For example, all of the streets in the city are named after soldiers who fought in the 1862 Civil War battle. The east/ west streets bear the names of Confederate soldiers, while north/south streets are named after the Union soldiers. For more info, visit cityofpearidge.com