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.

Thanks for tuning in!

Show Notes

(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

‍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)

“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)