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 Grace Gill, Fuel’s Operational Manager. 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 MatchRite Care’s CEO, Chris Jones, and COO, Steven Sattem; Zemplee’s Founder and CEO, Aparna Pujar; and Momentum Health’s Co-Founder and CEO, Philippe Miller. 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.

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‍Show Notes
Timestamps in this blog are for the audio-only version of the podcast; video timing differs.
(0:37) Introduction to Chris Jones and Steven Sattem
(3:10) About MatchRite Care
(6:34) How Fuel and Bentonville Have Helped MatchRite Care
(9:07) Chris and Steven’s #BecauseBentonville Story
(9:46) Introduction to Aparna Pujar
(11:20) About Zemplee
(18:00) How Fuel and Bentonville Have Helped Zemplee
(19:50) Aparna’s #BecauseBentonville Story
(21:13) Introduction to Philippe Miller
(22:01) About Momentum Health
(23:39) How Fuel and Bentonville Have Helped Momentum Health
(26:34) Introduction to Grace Gill
(27:42) About Fuel
(28:44) Grace’s #BecauseBentonville Story
(30:37) Closing Question
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‍Links‍‍‍‍‍‍
JAMES BELL
BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍
GRACE GILL
FUEL
CHRIS JONES
STEVEN SATTEM
MATCHRITE CARE
APARNA PUJAR
ZEMPLEE
PHILIPPE MILLER
MOMENTUM HEALTH

Quotes
“I think it’s authentic buy-in from the community, but I think in Bentonville, it’s truly something that’s noticeably different where there’s buy-in from any type of organization…There’s people here that will give you really high-quality advice at the time you need it most.” – Steven Sattem, (6:34)

“What’s unique about Fuel is that it gets you embedded into the enterprise community, right? It doesn’t just give you ideas on how to build your financial models, but it’s really focused on how you put your business inside the enterprise setting.” – Chris Jones, (7:43)
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“I definitely love the community. I’ve loved being at the Ledger, and love the mentor teams I’ve met so far. And I do know that they say this region is becoming the next healthcare hotspot, and I’m very interested in being strategically aligned to this.” – Aparna Pujar, (18:38)

“It’s been remarkable…in my time here, it’s amazing how in every interaction with every person I’ve had, whether it’s at a networking event or at a coffee shop, the first thing people say within thirty seconds is, how can I help? What can I do? Who can I introduce you to?” – Philippe Miller, (23:39)

“Nobody works harder than Fuel to make an individual experience for each of these companies. And we prioritize getting connected, getting them the resources they specifically need. So Fuel is anything but cookie cutter. And I think that’s something that’s really unique to the program and a huge draw for companies that are coming from all over the nation and even internationally.” – Grace Gill, (27:47)

Accelerating Enterprise-Ready HealthTech Startups with Fuel (part 2)
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 Grace Gill, Fuel’s Operational Manager. 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 MatchRite Care’s CEO, Chris Jones, and COO, Steven Sattem; Zemplee’s Founder and CEO, Aparna Pujar; and Momentum Health’s Co-Founder and CEO, Philippe Miller. 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.

Launching Innovative HealthTech Solutions
Throughout the 2023 Fuel for Your Health cohort, participants received mentorship and education within their specific industry, as well as coaching from Fuel’s extensive network, which allowed them to capitalize on interactions with potential partners and customers. One of this year’s cohort startups is MatchRite Care, which gives patient’s ability to aggregate their medical records into a single patient profile. MatchRite leverages patient insights, integrations and streamlined information technology systems and analytics to produce health records in a simplified format.
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Similarly, Zemplee works to improve the quality of life for older adults through AI-powered technology for aging in place wherever they live. Zemplee’s technology lightens caretakers’ workloads and provides family members with updates on their loved one’s health, wellbeing, and safety by interpreting seniors’ dining habits, medication intake, activity level, sleep patterns, and other vital details.

“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’s Impact
The final member of this year’s cohort, Momentum Health, provides a 3D imaging and artificial intelligence solution that allows patients and physicians to screen for scoliosis and monitor progression remotely. From a simple 15-second video taken on any smartphone, Momentum reconstructs a model of the torso to quantify asymmetries and predict curve progression using radiation-free technology.

The founders of these companies have expressed the value of the connections they have made in the Bentonville community–and how these relationships are springboarding them towards success. In placing these startup’s solutions in front of the right people in a market that has quickly become a known healthcare innovation hub, the ideal equation has evolved for creating successful and revolutionary healthtech companies.

“It’s been remarkable…in my time here, it’s amazing how in every interaction with every person I’ve had, whether it’s at a networking event or at a coffee shop, the first thing people say within thirty seconds is how can I help? What can I do? Who can I introduce you to?” – Philippe Miller, (23:39)
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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.