Cari Humphry
Scholar entrepreneurs from throughout North America will descend on Northwest Arkansas this spring, because the Heartland Problem Startup Competitors returns for an in-person occasion with a $100,000 prize pool.
Designed to simulate the method of elevating enterprise capital for a high-growth enterprise, the Heartland Problem has awarded over $350,000 because it was first held nearly in Spring 2020.
Purposes are open by means of Feb. 10 at 11:59 p.m. Twelve semifinalists might be chosen for the ultimate spherical of competitors, which might be held April 13-15 in downtown Bentonville.
The general winner will acquire $50,000. The second place crew will obtain $25,000; third place, $10,000; and fourth place, $5,000.
First and second place winners within the elevator pitch competitors — determined by an viewers vote — win $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.
“We’re extremely excited to host the Heartland Problem in Bentonville once more this yr,” stated Deb Williams, senior director of operations and pupil applications on the U of A Workplace of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
“This competitors exposes founders from throughout the globe to the burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas and helps them acquire helpful connections and expertise as they develop and construct their ventures.”
The competitors is hosted once more this yr by the Sam M. Walton Faculty of Enterprise and overseen by the Workplace of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with beneficiant assist from the Walton Household Charitable Assist Basis. Early sponsorships secured for the 2023 competitors embody WhyteSpyder, ArcBest, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Protect, ECHO Innovation Alliance and NewRoad Capital Companions.
The Startup Expo, returning for its second yr, will function a public showcase of the opponents. The free occasion in Bentonville will embody appetizers and drinks, concluding with an viewers vote for his or her favourite startup. The winner will obtain $5,000.
Previous winners have included know-how startups targeted on the music business and enhancing most cancers detection, in addition to a recycling-based constructing supplies firm.
Aurign, a music publishing startup from Georgia State College, took residence first place in 2020, securing $50,000 for his or her thought of utilizing blockchain know-how to securely file music-publishing paperwork.
NurLabs, a graduate pupil startup crew from the College of California at Los Angeles, received the 2021 Heartland Problem. The crew, which developed a patent-pending, non-traditional, non-invasive liquid biopsy platform to detect most cancers earlier, used its winnings to broaden the scale and scope of a lung most cancers examine.
Final yr’s winner, KLAW Industries, used its prize cash to buy a tractor trailer to move its product. Based by college students at Binghamton College, KLAW processes glass from landfills right into a powdered cement alternative, dubbed Pantheon, which the corporate sells to ready-mix concrete vegetation. The brand new combination leads to concrete with extra compressive power and a decrease carbon footprint.
Jacob Kumpon, KLAW’s co-founder and chief working officer, stated the Heartland Problem was a memorable and transformative expertise for his firm.
“Profitable the Heartland Problem took KLAW Industries to the subsequent stage by giving us the connections, expertise and funding to accumulate our first prospects,” Kumpon stated.
He added that visiting Bentonville “was incredible” and praised the competitors’s total expertise.
“I might say that is in all probability one of many competitions that does it the very best, encouraging groups to get on the market and construct relationships that may final a lifetime.”
In regards to the U of A Workplace of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Workplace of Entrepreneurship and Innovation creates and curates innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for college kids throughout all disciplines. Via the Brewer Household Entrepreneurship Hub, McMillon Innovation Studio, Startup Village, and Greenhouse on the Bentonville Collaborative, OEI offers free workshops and applications — together with social and company innovation design groups, enterprise internships, competitions and startup teaching. A unit of the Sam M. Walton Faculty of Enterprise and Division of Financial Growth, OEI additionally gives on-demand assist for college kids who might be innovators inside current organizations and entrepreneurs who begin one thing new.
