“We are very excited to welcome all these companies to Northwest Arkansas in August,” said program director Matthew Ward. “We are confident that these companies provide valuable solutions, and I am pleased to be a part of this program that adds to the strong, existing ecosystem through collaboration with all the intelligent individuals we have involved with Fuel.”
Fuel AI and Machine Learning Accelerator 2022 to Launch August 2
Cohort of 12 U.S. and international startups to relocate to Bentonville for 12 weeks
Fuel, Arkansas’ premier artificial intelligence and machine learning accelerator will launch August 2, with the goal of helping a cohort of startups within these fields connect to regional enterprise partners.
The Fuel Accelerator, in its fourth iteration, will provide regular, hands-on education and workshops to a cohort of 12 companies from across the United States, South Korea and India.
These 12 companies will make their way to Northwest Arkansas for a 12-week, enterprise-ready accelerator that will provide them with access to other startup founders, industry experts, institutions of higher education, and public policy officials.
“We are very excited to welcome all these companies to Northwest Arkansas in August,” said program director Matthew Ward. “We are confident that these companies provide valuable solutions, and I am pleased to be a part of this program that adds to the strong, existing ecosystem through collaboration with all the intelligent individuals we have involved with Fuel.”
Fuel launched in late 2018 with eight startups participating in a supply chain-focused, 16-week program. The program helped its first cohort nurture relationships with key Fortune 500 companies through feedback sessions, training, pilots and demos. The accelerator is funded in part by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) as a part of the state’s ongoing efforts toward promoting data science.
“Startup Junkie [Foundation] is a key partner in helping Arkansas lead the way in artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said Commerce Secretary Mike Preston. “Technological innovation is one of the state’s top economic priorities, and we’re excited to have Fuel and similar programs assist forward-thinking startups. The Fuel accelerator will provide participants with the tools they need to make even greater strides in data science while forming long-lasting public and private connections.”
The fourth Fuel cohort will be the program’s third year to focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
The companies included in this year’s Fuel Accelerator, along with location of operation:
o Airy – San Francisco, California
o Array – Austin, Texas
o CloudInsyte – Buffalo, New York
o Deeping Source – Seoul, Republic of Korea
o Instreamatic – Palo Alto, California
o Optiyol – San Francisco, California
o Open Sesame Media – Marina del Rey, California
o Pickl – Long Beach, California
o Quaeris – Charlotte, North Carolina
o RiskKarma – Scottsdale, Arizona
o Vacus Tech – Bangalore, India
o Veriphix – Washington, D.C.
“These 12 cohort companies have technology ranging from digital commerce to customer success, human resource, supply chain optimization, and automated insight discovery,” said Ward. “This year’s program will be the first without COVID-19 limitations and we are excited to build on the success of the past two years in full force.”
“We are confident the cohort will bring exponential gains to our enterprise partners from the efficiencies created in these areas,” he added. "The diversity and geographic reach of this cohort echo the level of opportunity and lifestyle Northwest Arkansas has to offer on a global scale.”
Fuel is led by Startup Junkie Foundation and Catapult Consulting, with support for the accelerator from GrowthX and RevUnit. Catapult Consulting, led by Tom Douglass, former Director of Emerging Technology at Walmart Stores Inc., will provide deep domain experience in business strategy to bring companies and ideas to the forefront and create the next generation of disruptive businesses.
Startup Junkie Foundation will continue collaborating with GrowthX, the Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund, and will incorporate their Market Acceleration Program (MXP) into the Fuel curriculum. GrowthX’s MXP online platform enables founders, and the organizations that support them, with that same go-to-market expertise in the form of a virtual accelerator that combines live coaching, on-demand training and interactive playbooks to deliver real results.
“GrowthX is excited to partner again with Fuel to help their founders achieve investor-readiness through a systematic path to product-market fit! We share their core belief that entrepreneurism can grow economies and create jobs when capital is combined with go-to-market expertise,” said Andrew Goldner, CEO and Founding Partner of GrowthX.
For more information about Fuel Accelerator, visit fuelaccelerator.com.
An overview of the 2022 cohort, with descriptions of each company, is attached.
About Startup Junkie Foundation
Startup Junkie has facilitated 12 previous accelerator programs with nearly 150 alumni companies. They engage thousands of entrepreneurs in the Northwest Arkansas region through a vibrant startup culture. Their clients have raised $469.2 million in private investment capital and scaled to a collective $797.5 million in annual revenue.
About GrowthX
GrowthX is a venture capital fund and investor syndicate powered by MXP Online, our proprietary Get-to-Market System™ that enables founders to do the work necessary to find product-market fit while providing us and our network of investors with unique and reliable early-stage investible insights. We work with a wide area, global network of founders primarily through the dozens of accelerators and funds powered by MXP Online. We also operate our own program powered by MXP Online called The Revenue Accelerator.
About RevUnit
Headquartered at the Exchange in the heart of the Bentonville Arts District, RevUnit has grown at a triple-digit rate in the past years and now employs a close-knit family of over 100 talented designers, developers, and strategists who are scattered all across the country building technology to help enterprises work better.
RevUnit is proud to have been named to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies for each of the past three years and was recently named on Entrepreneur’s list of Top Company Cultures. RevUnit has also been named as a Best Place to Work in Arkansas for three consecutive years, and its founders, Joe Saumweber and Michael Paladino, were recognized by the Small Business Administration as the 2018 Arkansas Small Business Persons of the Year.
About Catapult Consulting
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.
July 13, 2022
CONTACT: Caleb Talley Matthew Ward
caleb@startupjunkie.org matthew@startupjunkie.org
870-270-3988 479-353-5014
“In a world of increasing polarization, growing distrust in traditional institutions, and rising concerns around privacy, we feel privileged to help solve these problems while also improving business outcomes and civic discourse alike” said John Fuisz, Veriphix Founder and CEO.
WASHINGTON (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 28, 2022
Veriphix, a belief dynamics startup that automatically fuses behavioral science with data analytics to measure population-level belief changes in real time, was selected as a finalist in the ‘Social & Culture’ category for the 14th annual SXSW Pitch® (formerly SXSW Accelerator).
SXSW Pitch is the marquee event of South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference & Festivals (March 11 - 20, 2022) Startups Track, where leading startups from around the world showcase some of the most impressive technology innovations to a panel of hand-picked judges and a live audience. Out of the 655 companies that applied to present at SXSW Pitch 2022, Veriphix was selected among the 50 finalists spanning 10 separate categories.
The two-day event will be held the first weekend of SXSW Conference & Festivals, Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13, on the fourth floor of the Downtown Hilton Austin, Salon D/E. The event will then culminate with the 2022 SXSW Pitch Awards Ceremony on Sunday evening, March 13, where winning startups from each category and a Best in Show winner will be announced and honored.
SXSW Pitch will feature finalists across the following 9 categories: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Voice, Enterprise & Smart Data, Entertainment, Gaming & Content, Extended Reality & Immersive Technology, Future of Work, Health, Wearables & Wellbeing, Innovative World Technologies, Smart Cities, Transportation & Logistics, and Social & Culture.
Veriphix will present among four other companies in the Social & Culture category on Saturday, March 12th, 2022.
“In a world of increasing polarization, growing distrust in traditional institutions, and rising concerns around privacy, we feel privileged to help solve these problems while also improving business outcomes and civic discourse alike” said John Fuisz, Veriphix Founder and CEO.
Veriphix recently won First Place in the Fall 2021 NATO Innovation Challenge.
“Since its beginning, SXSW Pitch has significantly helped shape the early-stage venture ecosystem and connected promising companies with the resources they need to thrive, giving promising companies the resources they need to succeed when it matters most,” said SXSW Pitch Event Producer Chris Valentine. “Of the 572 companies who have participated since the competition’s inception, over 82 percent have gone on to secure funding and 17 percent have been acquired by the likes Google, British Telecom, Huffington Post, Apple, Live Nation, OpenTable. We’re excited to see this year’s impressive group of startups take to the stage and show us how their innovations will change the world.”
For more information about SXSW Pitch and to view the complete list of finalists, visit: https://www.sxsw.com/pitch.
About Veriphix
Veriphix is a belief dynamics startup that automatically fuses behavioral science with data analytics. Their first product, Beacon, measures population-level belief changes in real time, and provides the nudges that impact these beliefs, to improve business outcomes across marketing, strategy, and product design.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/veriphix/
Website: https://www.veriphix.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/veriphix
About SXSW
SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture. An essential destination for global professionals, the annual March event features sessions, music and comedy showcases, film screenings, exhibitions, professional development and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2022 will take place March 11 - 20, 2022. For more information, please visit sxsw.com. To register for the event, please visit sxsw.com/attend.
SXSW 2022 is sponsored by White Claw, Audible, Blockchain Creative Labs and The Austin Chronicle.
“Influence operations have been around since ancient times. Advancements in the modern era from the cognitive sciences have made them more systematic and effective. We are pleased to offer our solution to help NATO strengthen its defensive cognitive warfare capabilities.” - John Fuisz, CEO
WASHINGTON (PRWEB) FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Co-organized by NATO's Innovation Hub and the Canadian Ministry of Defence, the 2021 iteration of the NATO Innovation Challenge ended on 30 November 2021 with the victory of Veriphix, a US company that has developed a belief dynamics platform to track and measure a population’s beliefs about any topic, empowering brands to move customers towards ideas, products and services.
This challenge, co-organized with the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, with Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (funding program of the Canadian Ministry of Defence for innovation) and Old Dominion University, dealt with Cognitive Warfare and brought together more than 130 solutions from 13 nations. High-level authorities such as Mrs. Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister of National Defence of Canada and General Philippe Lavigne, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, showed their support by opening the event.
The Fall 2021 Innovation Challenge iteration focused on innovative solutions that pertained to countering cognitive warfare. During the virtual final pitch event, the remaining 10 finalists delivered their proposals and answered questions from the jury.
The Innovation Challenge was open to entrepreneurs, designers, inventors, engineers, scientists, coders, innovators and others. The best entries in this edition of the NATO Innovation Challenge could help inform and support the development of future NATO military doctrine, standards and requirements, and the development of new capabilities.
“Influence operations have been around since ancient times.” said John Fuisz, Veriphix Founder and CEO. “Advancements in the modern era from the cognitive sciences have made them more systematic and effective. We are pleased to offer our solution to help NATO strengthen its defensive cognitive warfare capabilities.”
About Veriphix
Veriphix is a behavioral science-based data analytics startup that tracks and measures belief, and provides the nudges that impact belief, to improve business outcomes across marketing, strategy, and product design.
About the NATO Innovation Hub
Since 2017, The NATO Innovation Hub from Headquarters Supreme Allied Command Transformation has organized innovation challenges twice a year. Each challenge is co-organized with a NATO Nation, which host the final event: the pitch day of the finalists. The challenge is open to anyone (individuals, entrepreneurs, start-ups, industry, academia, etc.) located in NATO Nations. The Innovation Challenge aims to give NATO new, creative and efficient ways to respond to security challenges.
By organizing these important competitive innovation challenges around real-world issues, Allied Command Transformation continues to be at the forefront of NATO efforts as it relates to the importance of transformation and development as continuous and essential drivers of change.
