An event hosted by RevTech Ventures of Dallas earlier this month brought a group of investors and startup founders to northwest Arkansas.
The venture capital firm invests specifically in early-stage retail technology. Co-founder David Matthews told Arkansas Business that northwest Arkansas is a top-of-mind region for investment.
“I love it because of the ecosystem there,” Matthews said. “Something refreshing about coming up to northwest Arkansas is you tend to see things that are more capital efficient.”
The two-day event kicked off with a bus ride from Dallas. About 35 people, split evenly between entrepreneurs and mentors, made the trip.
“We love the thought of doing it as a road trip, because you get so much more bonding if you have a shared experience together than if you just go to a meeting, so that makes it extra special,” Matthews said.
Event attendees from Texas, Arkansas and other neighboring states toured Walmart’s new headquarters and The Momentary museum in Bentonville before transitioning to business-focused events.
Startup Support
The event hosted “speed-dating” for mentors and entrepreneurs, with around 40 mentors and 15 startup founders participating. Matthews said the “boutique” style of the event is helpful for facilitating connections.
The mentors then led several training sessions, attended by around another 40 people from Arkansas.
The event culminated in a startup pitch competition with a $9,000 grand prize and $1,000 runner-up prize.
The grand prize amount was inspired by Matthews, who said he started his first company with $9,000 in capital.
“We call it the 9K Club with the thought that you can build something amazing with $9,000 if you’re really scrappy and resourceful,” Matthews said.
Allergy data firm Pollen Sense of Provo, Utah, won the pitch competition. Unytag of Houston, which offers technology that allows drivers to pass through toll roads anywhere in the U.S., was the runner-up.
As far as investing in a company, Matthews said he looks for companies that can “get some early scale with very little capital.”
RevTech also operates with a mentorship model, so Matthews likes to connect startup founders with people in his network.
“We like to couple a little bit of capital with a lot of mentorship,” he said.
Regional Connections
Matthews said another reason for hosting the event was facilitating connections in northwest Arkansas. He has attended StartupNWA’s Onward FX events as an investor, and invested in one company he met through that.
“The attitude there of embracing startups and really having a strong desire to build the ecosystem is a big part of it,” Matthews said. “It’s like, let’s go somewhere that wants us.”
He also said the strong retail industry is a big reason for his interest in the region.
“That’s what I love about retail — if you don’t serve the customer with excellence, you’re gonna die,” Matthews said. “You can’t say that in other industries, like military, government, health care, education; you can’t really say that they have a laser focus on serving the customer.”
Matthews said he has a desire to keep developing connections in northwest Arkansas so he can expand RevTech’s mentor network.
“We’ve got a long ways to go to really tap into what the market has to offer there in terms of the knowledge and experience that can help entrepreneurs scale up quick,” he said.
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