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Jeff Stinson to Lead Newly Launched Innovation Fund

3 min read

Arkansas’ tech-based entrepreneurial ecosystem received a boost Thursday with the announcement of the Innovation Fund from the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub.

The fund will support and accelerate the development of university-based startup companies in Arkansas. Jeff Stinson, director of the Hub’s Silver Mine co-working space (set to open early next year), will serve as the fund’s director.

Stinson also manages the Fund for Arkansas’ Future, the state’s largest angel investment fund, and previously led TechLaunch at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he worked with university researchers to protect and commercialize their research and inventions.

“The creation of the Innovation Fund addresses the most glaring gap in our state’s equity capital spectrum for startup companies,” Stinson said. “Our goal will be to train and position those startups to receive the angel and venture capital that is already available, and by doing that the Innovation Fund has the potential to jump-start entrepreneurship in a way that’s never been done in Arkansas.”

The nonprofit Innovation Hub, based in the Argenta Innovation Center in downtown North Little Rock, provides entrepreneurial resources, programs and educational opportunities to develop and support local entrepreneurs. In addition to the Silver Mine, it includes the Launch Pad maker space, the STEAM Lab educational space and the Art Connectioh, which fuses the arts and entrepreneurship.

Earlier this year, the Hub received a $1 million federal grant to complete renovation of the center including development of the Silver Mine.

The Innovation Fund will operate as a for-profit equity investment fund aimed at “organizing, training and funding university-based technology startup companies across Arkansas,” according to the Hub, and its program will include structured content and curricula based on the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps model.

Fund features include:

  • Mentors from the business community provided for student- and faculty-based startup teams.
  • Tiered investments based on progression through the program.
  • Financing provided through private investment dollars targeted toward proof-of-concept activities.

“University innovation gains economic value by getting it to the marketplace, and this translation is getting better in Arkansas,” said Jerry Adams, President and CEO of the Arkansas Research Alliance and a member of the Innovation Hub’s board of directors, in a news release. “This Innovation Fund is a needed addition to ensure that the flow of ideas gains economic value for Arkansas, and this fund perfectly aligns with the goals of ARA.”

Carol Reeves, associate vice provost for entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas, has helped create many successful startups through her programs at the UA’s Walton Business College. She sits on the Hub board and believes the Innovation Fund will help increase the number of knowledge-based startups in the state.

“There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in Arkansas,” she said in the release. “The Innovation Fund will accelerate the amazing progress we have made over the past five to 10 years and will lead to many high-wage jobs in the state.”

Those interested in participating in the Innovation Fund can contact Stinson at jstinson@arhub.org or (501) 907-6570.

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