Winrock’s BIG DEAL: Access to Private Capital

Winrock International has launched a program to help small businesses succeed.

The BIG DEAL program – Bringing Innovation and Growth by Delivering Enterprise Assistance Locally – identifies some of the small business development services offered by Winrock in partnership with other organizations in the state, and works to match them with the startups and small businesses that need them.

Through its partnership with Arkansas Business and Innovate Arkansas, Winrock has produced a series of articles focusing on different aspects of the BIG DEAL initiative. This week’s installment features access to private capital.

Winrock’s goal is to help each company raise enough capital to move forward without excessively diluting the management team’s ownership. Winrock assists business owners in identifying and gaining access to outside capital, public and private.

Winrock works with numerous public and private organizations across the state. Here’s a rundown of the state’s major private capital sources (and there are more on the horizon):

Diamond State Ventures — Provides mezzanine finance typically in the form of subordinated, convertible debt.  Based in Little Rock, DSV focuses on companies that are in the growth stage and need more than $1 million in a given round.

Fund for Arkansas’ Future — Based in Little Rock, it is a 60-member angel fund that looks to invest up to $500,000 in a given deal.  Its focus is tech-based and life science firms.  

Gravity Ventures Arkansas — A 21-member angel fund that looks to invest $75,000 to $125,000 per deal.  The group looks to play an active role in helping company growth, and prefers syndicating a given round of investment. Its focus is on tech-based firms. Based in Little Rock with a strong Fayetteville presence.

Rockfish Brand Ventures — The newest player in the state, Rockfish looks to fund promising Web-enabled companies that need not only its IT and branding agency services but also capital. Based in Rogers.

Union County Investment Angels — Based in El Dorado, UCIA represents a group of local business leaders whose goal is to bring new businesses to Union County by investing in early-stage startups. The catch is that investees must be located in or relocate to Union County.

(This is the fifth in a series offered by Winrock International and Innovate Arkansas about the BIG DEAL small business development program. Click here for the first installment.)