UA researcher Ralph Henry, co-founder of Innovate Arkansas firm InterveXion Therapeutics, leads a session on academic startups with IA adviser Jeff Amerine, left, and Jerry Adams of the Arkansas Research Alliance. (Photo by Mai Nguyen)
Innovate Arkansas adviser Jeff Amerine has left his position as director of Technology Ventures at the University of Arkansas, according to a report in the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.
Considered one of the state’s startup gurus, Amerine will continue to teach entrepreneurship classes at the UA’s Walton College of Business, and will now devote more time to Startup Junkie Consulting of Fayetteville, which he founded in 2008 and plans to grow regionally.
In addition to his role at Startup Junkie, as adviser to Innovate Arkansas and mentor for the ARK Challenge startup accelerator, Amerine is a managing member and investor in Gravity Ventures Arkansas, which operates two seed capital funds in the state that have invested in 18 startup ventures.
In addition, Amerine hatched the idea for the popular G60 elevator pitch competition, now administered by Innovate Arkansas, Startup Junkie and Winrock International. G60 has played multiple venues across Arkansas since its launch in 2011, and has made two stops in north Louisiana.
Amerine also has worked with Natural State Angel Association, Tonic member-managed regional funds and MentorCamp Northwest Arkansas.
As director of UA’s Technology Ventures, Amerine led efforts to commercialize the university’s research. He told NWABJ that his relationship with the UA has never been stronger.
He joined the UA in 2008 as a technology licensing officer. A former ICBM missile launch officer and project manager for the U.S. Air Force, Amerine spent 20-plus years working for Fortune 500 companies and helping launch startup ventures in Silicon Valley, including two years as IT managing director for FedEx Freight, before joining the UA staff.
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