Accelerating Enterprise-Ready HealthTech Startups (part 1) - Bentonville Economic Development
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Summary
In this special two-part series of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by several founders in the inaugural Fuel for Your Health Accelerator cohort, plus Tom Douglass, Fuel’s Entrepreneur In Residence. Fuel operates a family of accelerators in Bentonville that are operationally focused. The program provides growth-stage companies with knowledge and opportunities to interact with enterprise-size entities to further accelerate their success. Fuel for Your Health features innovative growth-stage healthtech startups from around the world with a diverse range of solutions that are transforming the healthcare industry. In this episode, James speaks with a few members of the 2023 Fuel for Your Health cohort, including Sarah Buechner, Product Manager with Lineus Medical; Francisco Nogueira, Co-Founder and CEO at Glooma; and Vinicio Vargas, Co-Founder and CEO of Ainnova Tech. Throughout the episode, James and his guests discuss what inspired them to start their companies, what solutions they provide and their experiences with Fuel, Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas.

Thanks for tuning in!

Show Notes
Timestamps in this blog are for the audio-only version of the podcast; video timing differs.
(0:37) Introduction to Tom Douglass
(1:46) About Fuel
(4:55) Tom’s #BecauseBentonville Story
(6:49) Introduction to Sarah Buechner
(8:20) About Lineus Medical
(9:57) How Fuel Has Helped Lineus Medical
(11:21) Sarah’s #BecauseBentonville Story
(12:25) Introduction to Francisco Nogueira
(15:53) About Glooma
(18:56) How Fuel Has Helped Glooma
(26:00) Introduction to Venicio Vargas
(26:52) About Ainnova Tech
(28:55) How Fuel Has Helped Ainnova Tech
(33:19) Venicio’s #BecauseBentonville Story
(37:41) Closing Thoughts

Links‍‍‍
JAMES BELL
BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
TOM DOUGLASS
FUEL
CATAPULT CONSULTING LLC
SARAH BUECHNER
LINEUS MEDICAL
FRANCISCO NOGUEIRA
GLOOMA
VINICIO VARGAS
AINNOVA TECH

Quotes

“The way this town operates and this region operates is really about handshakes over an experience…those types of things are where relationships are built and people become successful because it’s a handshake, it’s a support. And that’s what made my business successful, and that’s what made others’ successful. That’s really what the essence of Bentonville is, meeting somebody and having them bring you along on the journey.” 
– Tom Douglass, (5:57)

“Fuel for Your Health has been awesome for our company. We are a Northwest Arkansas company and we want to be in Northwest Arkansas hospitals. We want this to be a place where we can say we’re in hospitals in our hometown. So this has been a great opportunity to be introduced to all the large hospitals, to talk to nurses, to have those connections.” – Sarah Buechner, (9:57)

“It has been really amazing with all the mentors. We came here with three well-defined goals, but we understand that our opportunity is in the US. So we came here to Fuel to start our journey in the United States.”
 – Francisco Nogueira, (18:56)

“The feeling that I have is that Bentonville will be a healthtech hub in the country. That’s the most interesting part for us, and the biggest benefit we have at this moment is the connections.” – Vinicio Vargas, (29:40)

Accelerating Enterprise-Ready HealthTech Startups with Fuel (part 1)
In this special two-part series of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by several founders in the inaugural Fuel for Your Health Accelerator cohort, plus Tom Douglass, Fuel’s Entrepreneur In Residence. Fuel operates a family of accelerators in Bentonville that are operationally focused. The program provides growth-stage companies with knowledge and opportunities to interact with enterprise-size entities to further accelerate their success. Fuel for Your Health features innovative growth-stage healthtech startups from around the world with a diverse range of solutions that are transforming the healthcare industry. In this episode, James speaks with a few members of the 2023 Fuel for Your Health cohort, including Sarah Buechner, Product Manager with Lineus Medical; Francisco Nogueira, Co-Founder and CEO at Glooma; and Vinicio Vargas, Co-Founder and CEO of Ainnova Tech. Throughout the episode, James and his guests discuss what inspired them to start their companies, what solutions they provide and their experiences with Fuel, Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas.

The Impact of Fuel’s Accelerators
The 2023 Fuel for Your Health cohort is a twelve-week accelerator program that matches seed- and growth-stage startups with enterprise healthcare partners in order to advance the adoption of their transformative healthtech solutions. When the accelerator is complete, participants will be enterprise-ready; they’ll be prepared to talk to buyers, run beta tests and navigate their target audience to cultivate sales.

The Fuel Accelerator has received funding historically by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) as a part of the state’s ongoing efforts toward promoting emerging technology, as well as the Walton Family Foundation. The new, health-focused cohort is supported by congressional Community Project Funding awarded with the assistance of U.S. Rep. Steve Womack. The only stipulations are that participating companies must have some initial funding or revenue, and a team member must be present in Northwest Arkansas during the twelve weeks.

“Fuel for Your Health has been awesome for our company. We are a Northwest Arkansas company and we want to be in Northwest Arkansas hospitals. We want this to be a place where we can say we’re in hospitals in our hometown. So this has been a great opportunity to be introduced to all the large hospitals, to talk to nurses, to have those connections.” – Sarah Buechner, (9:57)

Fuel for Your Health Cohort Participants
Three of the companies participating in this year’s healthtech cohort are Lineus Medical, Glooma and Ainnova Tech. Lineus Medical is a developer of SafeBreak, an FDA-cleared breakaway device for peripheral IV lines. Glooma detects breast cancer at an early stage by simplifying breast self-exams with an app and a high-tech glove. And Ainnova Tech empowers clinicians with an artificial intelligence platform that detects diabetic retinopathy and other retinal diseases within seconds.

All three startups have expressed how much Fuel has helped them expand their networks and connect with industry leaders they wouldn’t have been able to connect with otherwise. Also, with Glooma and Ainnova Tech being out-of-country companies, Fuel has helped them specifically branch more into American markets.

“The feeling that I have is that Bentonville will be a healthtech hub in the country. That’s the most interesting part for us, and the biggest benefit we have at this moment is the connections.” – Vinicio Vargas, (29:40)

Get Connected!
Thank you for tuning into this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories and advice from the entrepreneurs, business executives and community leaders who are sparking the rise of Bentonville. If you are interested in discussing whether your business should have a presence in Bentonville or would like to discuss this podcast, please contact James Bell. You may reach James at jbell@greaterbentonville.com or (479) 273-2841.

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