The inaugural semester of the Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator officially came to a close during a demo event last night. The program is a collaborative initiative between the UofA’s Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program and Startup Junkie. Last year, leaders recruited a cohort of ten cycling companies from around the world and connected them with industry mentors, networking opportunities and resources over the past 12 weeks to help foster innovation and scale their businesses’ growth.
Dozens of entrepreneurs, cycling industry leaders and enthusiasts gathered at the Ledger in Downtown Bentonville last night to hear pitches from founders within the cohort and celebrate their achievements. Zoe Maddox is the director of business incubation at the University of Arkansas Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She oversaw the AGCA program and says it’s been a positive experience.
Members of the cohort got a northwest Arkansas vacation as part of the final send-off for the accelerator. The international group had the chance to ride the trails and witness Bentonville’s artistic features before the demo night. Uri Meirovich is one of the minds behind UK-based Skarper, a company that aims to revolutionize the analog-to-e-bike conversion process. He says the most exciting aspect of the AGCA was exploring Bentonville. Meirovich says he plans on establishing Skarper’s U.S. operations in Bentonville.
As with anything, the first iteration of the AGCA program revealed areas of improvement. Maddox says that next year they’ll pay careful attention to the order of the lessons and guest speakers.
The founders have one more week in northwest Arkansas, and then they’ll travel back home, far and wide. Maddox says the program will continue next year. After this semester’s cohort departs, she’ll begin preparing for the recruitment phase next fall.
If you want to learn more about the accelerator, Uri Meirovich and Skarper, or other companies in the cohort, search KUAF Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator. Ozarks at Large’s Jack Travis hosted interviews with numerous businesses from this semester’s cohort and the program’s directors.
