The Walton Family Foundation has extended funding for nonprofit startup facilitator Science Venture Studio of Fayetteville, which has moved within North Little Rock-based Winrock International.
The nonprofit works with companies to secure non-dilutive federal research funding that allows them to conduct research and develop technology without forfeiting any equity. Funds are awarded on a competitive basis through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Science Venture Studio launched in 2020 with funding from the Walton Family Foundation in collaboration with Startup Junkie, Winrock’s Innovate Arkansas, the Northwest Arkansas Council, and the University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
It has helped companies secure more than $3.5 million in non-dilutive federal research funding, and the extension is targeted to double that amount over the next two years, the Science Venture Center said in a news release.
Katie Thompson, a senior program officer with the Science Venture Center, said companies that collaborated with the nonprofit in the past two years were 30% more likely to get funding, more than double the national rate.
"With additional funding from the Walton Family Foundation and by joining Winrock, we can scale to help additional startups connect to this critical funding," Thompson said in the release.
