Startup Junkie's Fuel Accelerator Set to Launch Fall Cohort in NWA

The Fuel Accelerator from Fayetteville’s Startup Junkie Foundation kicks off its fall 2026 cohort on Aug. 25 at Compton Gardens in downtown Bentonville.

Twelve artificial-intelligence and machine-learning ventures will make northwest Arkansas home for 10 weeks of expert-led curriculum, mentorship and curated introductions to enterprise customers across the Heartland. The companies come from seven states and Argentina, and three are Arkansas-based. Fuel is a no-cost, equity-free program made possible by the financial support of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Walton Family Foundation.

The class is Fuel’s seventh AI/ML cohort and its 13th overall since Startup Junkie launched the program in 2018. They will work in person at the Fuel program headquarters inside the Learning Lab at The Collaborative, a University of Arkansas facility on the Greenway Office Park campus in downtown Bentonville, through Showcase Day on Oct. 28.

“Many leaders in both startup and corporate are invested in the ongoing wave of AI innovation but these stakeholders are not often enough in the same room,” said Grace Gill, program director. “This group of innovators have developed impressive, enterprise-ready solutions and we are thrilled to be a conduit to commercial success, addressing real enterprise problems, here in Arkansas. This cohort spans legacy focus, including supply chain, retail and logistics, as well as cutting edge solutions across cybersecurity, development and public safety.”

The Fall 2026 AI/ML cohort:

LiquiDonate – Oakland — Software that automatically reroutes retailers’ excess inventory, returns and unsellable goods to nonprofits instead of landfills, including sending customer returns straight to a local nonprofit rather than back through the warehouse.
GALE Project – Austin — Modular pods mounted on utility poles that pair cameras and alert systems with an autonomous drone dock, letting police and fire departments launch a drone remotely as a first responder.
Aptly – Oklahoma City — System of record for who is authorized to approve, sign or commit on a company’s behalf, replacing the spreadsheets and policy PDFs that banking, energy and manufacturing enterprises still use to track signing authority.
Fleet Defender – Omaha — In-vehicle cybersecurity for trucking fleets, with a 24/7 vehicle security operations center that detects and shuts down cyber threats, along with fuel and trailer theft.
Buy-it.ai – San Antonio/Warsaw, Poland — AI that identifies the products shown in a video, matches them to retailer inventory and builds a branded microsite where viewers can buy what they saw.
LeanSite AI – Dallas — Building maintenance platform for organizations with multiple locations — healthcare providers, retailers, restaurants and fitness brands — that schedules repairs, coordinates service providers and tracks maintenance automatically.
Foreko – Springdale — Supply chain platform for consumer packaged goods and direct-to-consumer brands that connects sales, warehouse and inventory data, then recommends what to order and places the purchase order once approved.
NicklPay – Boston — One dashboard for product companies selling both wholesale and direct to consumers, covering orders, inventory, purchasing and payments, with an assistant that flags low stock and at-risk accounts.
Sentrio – Buenos Aires, Argentina — Platform that translates cyber risk into dollars, telling security and finance leaders what a specific breach scenario would cost and which security investments reduce the most risk per dollar spent.
Gumption – Fayetteville — AI hiring platform with customizable pipelines that match candidates to employers, serving businesses, job seekers and independent recruiters.
Advisar – Fayetteville — Independent measurement layer for suppliers advertising on Walmart Connect, auditing retail media spend against sales results, with other retail media networks planned.
Scale Social AI – Raleigh — Platform that collects content from a brand’s own customers, clears the usage rights and scores each asset before it runs as paid or organic advertising.

“We know how valuable time is. And these founders, most of whom will be traveling in from all over the country, are committing 10 weeks of that time to participate in this program,” said Caleb Talley, executive director of Startup Junkie Foundation. “We don’t take that for granted, and we appreciate the trust they’re putting into Fuel and our team, and we’re eager to show up, deliver an impactful experience, and allow our ecosystem to exceed their expectations. We’re so grateful, too, to AEDC and the Walton Family Foundation for making the work possible.”

Fuel was launched by Startup Junkie Foundation in 2018 and has run 12 cohorts spanning AI/ML, HealthTech, supply chain logistics and cybersecurity. Its 98 alumni ventures represent 21 states and 11 countries. More than 30 out-of-state companies opened and still operate a local office or ongoing presence in Arkansas, and more than 10 founders relocated their headquarters to the state, some before the program concluded. Fuel alumni have raised more than $260 million to date, including more than $60 million during or within a year of participating, and secured more than 150 enterprise pilots or contracts during or following the program. More than 300 new jobs have been created by Fuel cohort companies, according to alumni update surveys, along with hundreds of ongoing relationships with local mentors, ecosystem partners and enterprise clients.

The fall kickoff is free, and an RSVP is required here. For more information about Fuel Accelerator, visit fuelaccelerator.com.