Arkansas-Based Startup Accelerator Launches With Global Partners Leading Retail Value Chain and Tech Industries

Submitted

Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures and the AI Foundation partnered with venture development leaders in Northwest Arkansas to transform tech in the heartland.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Cartwheel Studio and the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation are welcoming the inaugural cohort of the Bounds Accelerator, an Arkansas-based emerging technology startup accelerator.

There are 10 company participants, including three from the state of Arkansas. Participating companies are in the Seed-to-Series A stage and are building next-generation technologies that solve challenges within the retail, transportation, logistics, manufacturing and supply chain sectors. They include Amplio, Glyphx, Hashku, Indexer, Mycelium Networks, New Forge, Ship.com, Spark, Trackstar and Vendoor.

The 16-week accelerator began Jan. 8 and is bookended by an in-person orientation and demo day event in Bentonville, with weekly remote learning and mentoring sessions. Bounds founders and key team members from Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, New York, California, Nevada and Michigan will travel to Northwest Arkansas for the program's private kick-off event today, Jan. 11, at The Ledger in Bentonville.  

Promoting its strategic location in the heart of the retail and supply chain sectors, the Bounds Accelerator also includes notable partnerships with Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures and the AI Foundation to provide cohort companies with access to a wide network of business and investment connections. Mentors listed on the Bounds website include a mix of experienced startup founders, technologists working at the intersection of AI and Web3, product leaders, retail value chain subject matter experts, notable academics, as well as experienced professionals and executives from Arkansas' leading enterprises. 

Additionally, the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation has paired each cohort company with one paid intern through its Venture Intern Program and has organized mentorship and advisory support, including growth-to-scale optimization audits, for the full 16-week program. Bounds is funded through grants from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and support from Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures and The AI Foundation. 

This selected cohort of promising companies, some previously engaged with esteemed programs such as Y Combinator and Techstars, are applying emerging tech on retail value chain problems ranging from procurement to warehouse management to payments. The group was chosen based on the economic size of their opportunity space, their established traction (such as revenue, number of customers/users or dollar amount funds raised) as well as their fit and experience with solving stakeholder problems in retail value chain sectors. To date, these 10 participants have raised almost $18 million in cumulative investment.

"We were thrilled to see a program like this be established in Northwest Arkansas, along with its focus on the retail value chain. Additionally, its association with Coinbase Ventures, and considering the fact that our tech is made possible by blockchain, our company immediately felt like an ideal fit for the 2024 inaugural cohort," said Fayetteville-based Rishi Mittal, founder of Mycelium Networks.

The public will be welcome to join the Bounds Demo Night event on April 29 in Bentonville. Please visit bounds.cartwheel.studio for more information.

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, 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, OEI also offers on-demand support for students who will be innovators within existing organizations and entrepreneurs who start something new.   

About Cartwheel Studio: Founded in 2021, Cartwheel Studio is a new venture development firm that provides startup studio, incubator, and accelerator programming, expertise, and services. With its focus on technology-led retail value chain opportunities, Cartwheel calls Northwest Arkansas its home and directly seeks to magnify the region's impact on the world. Cartwheel is opening the region to the expanding landscape of emerging technologies and leveraging the potential of the region's industry leaders.

About Coinbase: Coinbase is building the cryptoeconomy — a more fair, accessible, efficient, and transparent financial system enabled by crypto. The company started in 2012 with the radical idea that anyone, anywhere, should be able to easily and securely send and receive Bitcoin. Today, Coinbase offers a trusted and easy-to-use platform for accessing the broader cryptoeconomy.

About Haun Ventures: Founded in 2022, Haun Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in crypto based in Menlo Park, California. The firm backs teams working in every layer of the crypto technology stack and at every stage through a $500 million early-stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund.

About The AI Foundation: AI Foundation is a dual commercial and non-profit applied AI research lab & incubator on a mission to make the most powerful AI technologies safe and useful for all 8 billion people. The AI Foundation's mission is to move humanity forward through the power of Personal AI. Since 2017, the AI Foundation community has incubated and contributed to the ideation, development, and evolution of revolutionary Personal AI.