Startup Junkie Names Companies For SBA-backed Accelerator

Startup Junkie Consulting has selected 14 businesses for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s ScaleUp America Initiative.

The program is designed to help grow small businesses with high potential, in order to provide more jobs and grow the local economy in Northwest Arkansas and the surrounding areas, according to a press release from Startup Junkie.

The chosen startups include Bentonville-based companies Bike Rack Brewing Co., Blogs for Brands, Pink House Alchemy, VendorMasters and Yeyo’s Mexican Grill LLC; and Fayetteville companies 3c21 Design, Aurora Digital Signage and DBSquared.

Other selected companies are avad3 Inc. of Lowell, Green Bean Inc. of Rogers, Kyya Chocolate of Elm Springs, Logo-n-Stitch of Springdale, Kent Walker Artisan Cheese of Little Rock and Make People Better LLC of Springfield, Missouri.

“Each company is poised to grow in revenues and job creation for our region,” Haley Cleous, associate consultant at Startup Junkie, said in the press release.

The program is free and provides entrepreneurship education, management support services, mentorship and networking opportunities, and the potential for increased access to capital, Cleous said.

Eleven of the companies Startup Junkie chose are women-, minority- or veteran-owned. Those population groups are key focuses for the organization.

The 16-week program will kick off Nov. 11. Startup Junkie will choose two groups per year during the course of the initiative, which has the potential to go on for five years.

Startup Junkie is one of 15 groups chosen by the SBA to organize the program in communities throughout the nation.