Winrock International
Winrock International of Little Rock recently announced its new Validation Fund, an “evergreen, not-for-profit fund dedicated to deploying early-stage awards to validation-stage Arkansas startup companies.”
Funded by an initial $1.1 million contribution from the Walton Family Foundation, Winrock said the fund will help in job creation and economic prosperity across the state. Awards will range from $50,000 to $150,000 and go to eight to 10 companies in northwest Arkansas over the next two years.
The fund plans to raise an additional $6 million over time to expand throughout the state and make awards in seven targeted industries: health care, retail, transportation, distribution and logistics, agriculture, food and natural resources, financial services, data sciences, advanced analytics and software development, and energy and power electronics.
“We are proud to help take the lead, with the assistance of the Walton Family Foundation, in addressing a critical gap in Arkansas’ entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Winrock International President and CEO Rodney Ferguson said in a news release. “From Innovate Arkansas to the Delta I-Fund and the Arkansas Women’s Business Center, Winrock provides expertise to support entrepreneurs and promising young businesses in Arkansas.”
Winrock U.S. Programs Senior Director Linsley Kinkade added, “Winrock has worked for decades in Arkansas to build community and improve well-being, and supporting entrepreneurship is an important part of achieving those goals. The Validation Fund, with support from Winrock entrepreneurial programming, carries on in that legacy by helping address an area of need.”
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