Endeavor of New York City has received a $2 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation that will help it launch a new office in northwest Arkansas.
Endeavor is a global organization that helps entrepreneurs by connecting them with talent, capital and a worldwide peer and mentor network. The company aims to support founders and companies in the region that have passed through an initial start-up phase and who demonstrate the potential for rapid expansion and scale.
Endeavor NWA will be led by Canem Arkan, former managing director at Axonic Capital. Before that, she spent most of her career at Goldman Sachs.
The new office’s board of directors is chaired by Elise Mitchell, founder and chairman of Mitchell Communications. Other members are Carl George, co-CEO/president of George’s Inc.; Ashley Hubka, senior vice president of corporate strategy and corporate development at Walmart Inc.; Todd Simmons, CEO of Simmons Foods Inc.; and Clete Brewer, managing partner at New Road Capital Partners.
Endeavor, founded in 1997, said it has helped 1,800 entrepreneurs build more than 1,100 companies in 34 markets throughout North America, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Those companies generated combined revenue of $15 billion in 2017.
Endeavor said companies led by the entrepreneurs it’s helped have created 1.5 million jobs in their local economies.
Endeavor said it sees an opportunity for its model to address key challenges northwest Arkansas, including the exodus of highly educated individuals to cities with larger entrepreneurial support systems.
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