Venture Center Launches $10M Investment Fund

(The Venture Center Arkansas Fund)

The Venture Center of Little Rock announced Monday its new source of investment capital for technology-driven companies headquartered in Arkansas, The Venture Center Arkansas Fund.

The fund, launched last year and currently looking to raise $10 million, focuses on early to growth-stage B2B companies in high-value sectors. It will function through a partnership with The Venture Center, which provides services for Arkansas-based startups, small businesses and corporate innovators.

The fund’s investment pipeline and current portfolio companies include participants in The Venture Center’s accelerators and programs. The fund’s two managing partners, Arthur Orduña and Chad Brown, are also The Venture Center’s executive director and CFO, respectively, as well as private investment leads for The Circumference Group, a Little Rock-based investment management firm.

“The fund is managed separately from The Venture Center as a for-profit vehicle but serves as a complement to its mission and vision, which is to accelerate the success of Arkansas entrepreneurs for the long-term economic benefit of the state and region,” Orduña said in a press release. “Our investment scope is broad, but we are deliberately seeking companies and founders who see their growth and success as contributing to the overall growth and success of Arkansas.”

The capital raise is led by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, who invested in the fund from its State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) program, a $10 billion federal program to support small businesses and entrepreneurship across the U.S.

Since its launch in 2024, the fund has invested in four Arkansas-based companies: Lexamica, a Little Rock-based legaltech platform for law firm-to-law firm referrals; Participate, a Little Rock-based fintech platform developed and launched by BankLabs for bank loan syndication and participation management; Servato, a Little Rock-based solutions provider that helps service providers maintain and manage their critical infrastructure; and Sober Sidekick, a Bentonville-based digital platform and social network for maintaining sobriety.

The investment amounts and financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are excited to invest in Arkansas founders who are passionate about growing the next generation of great companies in this state,” Brown said in the release. “And we strongly believe that is exactly who we have found in the leaders of Lexamica, Participate, Servato and Sober Sidekick. They are building companies the right way, with outstanding customer-first values and cultures to match great execution and operations. This is truly meaningful to me as a native Arkansan.”