Outcomes

Curriculum

Develop as a leader and learn from world class leaders.

Connections

Drive revenue through enterprise contracts, pilots, and develop strategic partnerships.

Capital

One-on-one meetings with potential investors.

Join us for a transformative journey in the heart of Bentonville, Arkansas with our 10-week in-person HealthTech accelerator program. Tailored for startups pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare, this intensive program offers strategic mentorship, networking opportunities, and resources to propel your innovation to new heights. Immerse yourself in a collaborative ecosystem, leveraging the vibrant health and technology community of Bentonville, as you refine your product, scale your business, and forge lasting connections.

Join us in shaping the future of HealthTech innovation.

Ignite the future of AI/ML innovation in Bentonville, Arkansas!

Join our immersive 10-week in-person accelerator program designed for startups pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Gain access to strategic mentorship, collaborative networking, and cutting-edge resources to refine your product, scale your business, and connect with a dynamic tech community.

Take your AI/ML startup to the next level—apply now and accelerate your journey to success!

Meet The Team

  • Darian Harris

    MANAGING DIRECTOR

    Darian Harris is a seasoned entrepreneur and growth strategist, passionate about helping startups scale through strategic investments and go-to-market acceleration. Before co-founding Connected Capital, Darian led Fuel Accelerator, where he worked with hundreds of startups to refine their sales, partnerships, and investor readiness.

    His career includes time as a Merchant at Walmart, managing multi-billion-dollar product categories, and a strategic role at The Harvest Group, helping brands optimize their market positioning. With deep expertise in investment strategy and revenue acceleration, Darian ensures Connected Capital’s portfolio companies are positioned for high-growth and successful exits.

    Past Leadership Roles: Fuel Accelerator, Walmart, The Harvest Group

    Specialties: Startup Scaling, GTM strategy, Fundraising, Investor Relations

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  • Tom Douglass

    ENTREPRENEUR IN RESIDENCE

    Tom is a leading expert in identifying and implementing emerging technologies within the world’s largest enterprise. As the former Director of Emerging Technology at Walmart Tom assessed hundreds of technologies and companies annually giving him deep insight into how to successfully advance enterprise innovation and scale growth stage startups. Tom is now the founder of Catapult Consulting drawing on his experience and networks to help startups elevate their business with fractional C-level leadership, long and short-term strategy development, product market fit analysis and enterprise relationship management. He actively coaches startups across a variety of sectors including retail, supply chain, health, defense and government, cybersecurity and others drawing on his unique business acceleration program and extensive network. 

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  • Grace Gill

    OPERATIONS MANAGER

    Grace has served the Fuel team since 2022. Grace has previous experience in non-profit and marketing from working at Mary R. Koch Arts Center (Wichita, KS), as well as starting on the Startup Junkie marketing and events team. She graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas and has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Innovation from the Walton College of Business. Additionally, Grace is a championed powerlifter, being a 2x world record holder, 3x national record holder, Arkansas' 2022 Best Female Powerlifter and 2023 American Pro competitor.

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  • Caleb Talley

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STARTUP JUNKIE FOUNDATION

    Caleb Talley joined the team in 2019 as the marketing and events director, where he was responsible for planning and carrying out the foundation's portfolio of events and workshops geared to serve the local entrepreneurial community. Caleb is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with degrees in journalism and political science, having cut his teeth as a reporter, photographer and then opinion editor of the Times-Herald in Forrest City, Ark. During his time with the Times-Herald, he received national recognition for his work, including multiple Associated Press Managing Editors Awards for best hard news reporting and best news photography.

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  • Melissa Silvia

    COMMUNICATIONS LEAD

    Melissa is a successful and forward-thinking communication strategist with a broad and diverse background in communication strategy development and implementation. With extensive experience in independent consulting, executive brand management, internal communications, speechwriting, and high-performance team development, Melissa excels at crafting impactful strategies that drive organizational success.

    Empathetic and collaborative, she brings a team-oriented approach to her work, leveraging her strong interpersonal skills to help leaders create dynamic and effective communication strategies. Melissa is dedicated to aligning messaging with business goals, ensuring cohesive communication across all levels of an organization.

    As a key contributor to long-term organizational prosperity, she specializes in analyzing current communication strategies and developing a clear roadmap to guide future success, empowering organizations to strengthen their messaging and achieve their objectives.

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Fuel Arkansas is facilitated by the Startup Junkie Foundation. Mentorship is provided by experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and subject matter experts from several of the largest enterprises in the world.

Startup Junkie Foundation has facilitated 15 previous accelerator programs with over 150 alumni companies. They engage thousands of entrepreneurs in the Northwest Arkansas region through a vibrant startup culture. Their clients have raised $664.2 million in private investment capital and scaled to a collective $924 million in annual revenue.

As an entrepreneurial support organization, Startup Junkie Foundation is the drumbeat for activity in the local startup ecosystem. Specifically, Startup Junkie Foundation helps entrepreneurs start and grow ventures through 1:1 consultation, events, workshops, and programs like this accelerator.

Startup Junkie Foundation knows what it takes to be a small team going after multi-million dollar enterprise contracts. Backed by the Walton Family Foundation and the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Startup Junkie Foundation has been awarded long-term funding to provide high-quality services at no cost to the entrepreneurs they serve.

Meet Our Partners

  • Catapult Consulting is led by founder and CEO, Tom Douglass. Tom uses his unique experiences in small business, Fortune 500 Enterprises, and deep domain experience in business strategy to bring companies and ideas to the forefront and create the next generation of disruptive businesses.

    As a result, Catapult Consulting launches companies to the next level. Tom works with them to elevate their business with fractional C-level leadership, long and short-term strategy development, emerging tech assessment and demo validation, coaching and educational programs and access to his extensive network in a variety of disciplines and enterprises.

    Prior to founding Catapult Consulting, Tom was the Director of Emerging Technology at Walmart Stores Inc., where his team acted as a Technology Transfer Office and had an impact in a variety of areas including, but not limited to, in-store robotics, wireless power, RFID, and in-store IoT. His ability to manage this team and spot technology relevant to the enterprise earned him the 2014 Strategic Services Leader of the Year Award. This experience and associated network gave Fuel a competitive advantage and exponential success while Tom served as the Entrepreneur in Residence since 2019.

  • We Help Companies Develop Worldwide Strategic Partnerships

    Working with the world’s largest companies is the key to your strategic advantage in the marketplace. These potential strategic partners already have the distribution channels, brand recognition, engineering/support infrastructure and geographic coverage that can help you achieve global market leadership with unparalleled speed.

    With over 25 years experience as a strategic partnership consultant and commercialization expert we have built an extensive network of key decision makers and can connect you with the partners you need to accelerate revenue and investment and drive success.

    Led by Albert Behr. Albert is an innovator and leader focused on technology commercialization. Born in Winnipeg, Behr has been in the technology industry for more than three decades. His experience spans high-level marketing, operational, and financing roles across leading technology companies and startups around the globe.

    While based in the U.S. and Asia, Behr held executive leadership roles with technology giants such as AT&T, Fujitsu, and Symantec. While in Canada, he served as Chief Strategy Officer for BorderWare Technologies, COO of NRG Group, Senior VP for Platform Computing and most recently CEO of BehrTech.

    For the past 25 years, Behr has been at the helm of the technology commercialization consultancy he founded, advising more than 1,100 tech companies. During that time, he led numerous large-scale strategic partnerships and funding efforts for some of the most promising IT, clean tech, and material sciences firms in North America and Europe. In early 2017, he began devoting time to speaking engagements around the globe and curriculum development for one of Canada’s top universities, where he is a professor in the faculty of engineering and teaches a course focused on entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology commercialization strategies.

Ledger Bentonville

Ledger is a world-class 230,000 sq. ft. space and the world’s first fully bike-able building. Fuel’s office is located inside the Ledger and cohort members receive full membership access for the duration of the program.

Thank You To Our Sponsors

Fuel Accelerator programs are entirely grant funded through support from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Walton Family Foundation, and the U.S. Small Business Association.

 FAQs

  • Startups who are passionate about the problem they are solving, have raised capital and/or have revenue traction, and are willing to relocate for the duration of the program. We are NOT an idea stage accelerator or VC funding accelerator. We are an operational, revenue based accelerator.

  • There is no-cost and no-equity taken to participate in Fuel. Startups are responsible for travel and accommodations. The program is sponsored by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Walton Family Foundation, and Startup Junkie Foundation in order to foster more activity and innovation around the future of technology in Northwest Arkansas.

  • Startups must participate in-person. No exceptions will be made.

  • Fuel is based in Northwest Arkansas, home to four Fortune 500 companies and 1700 support enterprises. Each company will be provided access to our office at the Ledger in the heart of Bentonville, AR.