GORP Welcomes Its Largest Cohort Yet With Eight Startups

Joshua Mast

Since its founding in spring 2022, 17 startups have launched and expanded their businesses through the GORP cohorts. GORP has also supported nearly 200 entrepreneurs through its a la carte services, which include workshops, networking events, 1:1 consulting and access to co-working space.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program will feature its most diverse and largest group of startups to date, as eight companies begin their entrepreneurial journey today with the launch of GORP's fall 2023 cohort. 

Led by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, GORP is the U of A's flagship business incubation program. GORP supports startups with workshop training, team mentoring and dedicated product/service development to help them scale globally.

The 12-week program, which spans Aug. 29 to Nov. 14, also provides up to $15,000 in "non-dilutive seed funding" per company — funding that doesn't require the owner to give up equity in the company.  

GORP'S FALL 2023 COHORT 

Adventure Trail Outfitters — Conway 
Adventure Trail Outfitters is the producer of the Overland Shower, a convenient, high performing, portable hot water system for showering and camp clean up. Founded by Tom Brawley, this patent-pending product lets campers wash the day's activities away and be rejuvenated for the next adventure. 

Co-Angler — Springfield, Missouri  
Founded by John Bledsoe, Co-Angler is an online platform designed to connect people to go fishing together. 

Jane Wick LLC — Rogers
​Jane Wick provides beautiful gun range backpacks designed to support the unique needs of women shooters. Founded by Windy Elstermeier, the backpacks include lots of padded pockets and a place for everything a woman needs to go shooting with confidence. They're also lightweight, easy to carry and feature a sleek, stylish design. 

Outdoor Education Services (OES) — Cave Springs 
OES is an education-based outdoor adventure company teaching people to safely and confidently enjoy the wilderness using several different disciplines. OES was founded by Sean Cline, Simon Wholey and Margo Capps. 

Paddl — Bentonville 
Paddl is an app designed to make finding the best paddling destinations more user-friendly, offering detailed river maps, real-time conditions and trip planning tools for river adventurers. Paddl was founded by Colton Harrington and Chase Starr-Kercheval. 

Rider Up — Bella Vista 
Rider Up is a community-centered cycling app that uses real time location sharing to connect riders. Founded by Greg Pool, Steve Outain, and Brent Stinespring, Rider Up seeks to create a more efficient way to connect with other riders & report trail conditions. 

SABO Outdoors — Conway 
SABO Outdoors connects landowners and guides with outdoors opportunity-seekers for short-term guided and DIY outdoor activities through a first-of-its-kind mobile application available on both iOS and Android. The company was established by Justin Neal, CEO; Taylor Cassat, chief operating officer; Joshua Settle, chief financial officer; and Timothy Schneider, chief technology. 

SLAPCHALKS — Fayetteville 
Founded by high school student Joseph Grant Rouse, SLAPCHALKS designs, creates and sells innovative, game-changing athletic apparel with exterior mesh pockets for chalk balls, giving climbers, crossfitters, ninja warriors and other chalk-using athletes fast and easy access to chalk with just a quick slap on the pockets! Rouse's parents, Vanessa Araujo Rouse and Philip Grant Rouse, serve as COO and CFO, respectively.

A Boost From Game & Fish

This semester's cohort will also be bolstered by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, which will be sponsoring two companies building solutions around hunting and fishing activities. 

"The support from Arkansas Game and Fish is monumental," said Phil Shellhammer, OEI's senior director of business incubation. "The agency brings a wealth of industry experience and insight that will be invaluable to the GORP companies as they build, launch and begin to scale." 

Founders in previous cohorts have praised GORP for its leadership, access to mentors and the program's ability to provide high-quality interns.    

GORP companies receive a U of A student intern through OEI's Venture Intern Program. Now in its fifth year, VIP matches students with startups, entrepreneurship support organizations and investor networks for semester-long internships and provides training to help them to succeed in ambiguous, fast-paced environments.  

Since its founding in spring 2022, 17 startups have launched and expanded their businesses through the GORP cohorts. GORP has also supported nearly 200 entrepreneurs through its a la carte services, which include workshops, networking events, one-on-one consulting and access to co-working space. GORP is housed at The Collaborative, the U of A's education and research hub in Bentonville.

About the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation creates and curates innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for students across all disciplines. Through the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, McMillon Innovation Studio, Startup Village, and Greenhouse at the Bentonville Collaborative, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides free workshops and programs — including social and corporate innovation design teams, venture internships, competitions and startup coaching. A unit of the Sam M. Walton College of Business and Division of Economic Development, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation  also offers on-demand support for students who will be innovators within existing organizations and entrepreneurs who start something new.