ARK Launched, Now Loading

Jeannette Balleza is having no problem finding prospective campers for the ARK.

The ARK is a recently launched, mentorship-driven business accelerator program. The result of a $2.15 million federal grant, the ARK is designed to find Internet and/or mobile technology startups focused on new web-based or mobile technology products and services.

Specifically, ARK organizers are looking for startups geared toward three of Northwest Arkansas’ strongest existing industry sectors — retail, food processing, and transportation and logistics. The idea is not only to produce innovative products and services, but to spark job creation within those industries.

Applicants for the first of two boot camps are being lured by seed funding of more than $18,000 for living expenses for the duration of their stay, and probably more so by the possibility of landing one of two $150,000 prizes to be awarded at the end of each camp. The application process for the first camp, which will run from Aug. 6 to Nov. 9, opened March 14.

Balleza, one of the program’s directors, said she hopes to receive at least 100 applications by the June 17 deadline.

As of press time, 14 had been received.

“What we think is attractive about it is there is no other place to be if you’re geared towards retail or transportation or food processing,” Balleza said, “just because those clusters are so well developed here already.”

Also developing in Northwest Arkansas, Balleza and others associated with the program believe, is a blossoming entrepreneurial community and spirit.

The most recent piece of evidence in support of that is the newly opened Iceberg co-working space in Fayetteville.

The 15 applicants selected for each boot camp will be able to use The Iceberg as a headquarters of sorts. And while there is a competitive nature built into the program, Balleza said one of its goals also is to promote a sense of cooperation.

“What I would like to see is people putting down the skepticism and proprietary nature, and actually making collaboration work not just in theory, but in actual practice,” she said. “That’s what I think is most fascinating about this.”

There already has been much cooperation just to get the program off the ground.

The ARK is a partnership between Winrock International, the University of Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas Community College.

Additionally, much of the funding comes from three federal groups — the Economic Development Administration, the Employment and Training Administration, and the Small Business Administration.

It also is a full member of the Global Accelerator Network, formerly known as the TechStars Network.

“You’re seeing a lot of disparate parties coming together to make economic development happen,” Balleza said. “I think there’s a sort of a shift in thinking there.”

How It Works

Each boot camp will be broken into three segments, starting with a definition phase.

“What we’ll be doing is facilitating meetings among our [startup] founders with our mentors, potential customers, investors — people who can ask them questions and also provide some guidance and feedback on whether their product is correct for this market,” Balleza said. “We really want to engage them in that first four weeks, so that they’re receiving a lot of feedback and processing that feedback, and then they as a team can figure out the right direction to go.”

From there, participants will go through an execution phase in which they’ll concentrate on building the process or product they plan to demo. The final phase is pitch refinement.

Phases typically will run four to five weeks, Balleza said, but each entrant’s process will be customized to fit its needs.

“The mandatory thing that will be week to week will be progress meeting so they can boil it down and tell us, ‘This is what we’ve worked on, this is what we’ve achieved, this is where we’re struggling, this is where we can benefit from additional mentorship,’” she said.

Mentors for the program, which was one of 20 selected from a nationwide applicant pool of 150, are wide-ranging in their fields of expertise.

In addition to locals like Greg Lee, formerly of Tyson Foods Inc., and BlueInGreen LLC CEO Clete Brewer, nationally recognizable names like former Microsoft exec Collins Hemingway and Snapette founder Jinhee Kim will participate.