Top 6 Angel Investors and VC Firms in Arkansas in 2026
Arkansas has a growing base of active startup investors, including the Stephens Group, Chad Fowler of BlueYard Capital, VIC Technology Venture Development, Tyson Ventures, the Ark Angel Alliance, and Warren Stephens. Most of the state's investor activity is centered in Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Rogers, and the state is one of the more affordable places in the country to build a startup, which continues to draw entrepreneurs and investors alike.
Do you also want to secure funding for your startup but can't find investors with similar interests?
Well, here is a list of the top angel investors, VC firms, and PE firms in Arkansas, along with some tips about how to pitch to investors.
Top 6 Angel Investors and VC Firms in Arkansas
Following is the list of some of the top angel investors, venture capital firms, and private equity firms active in Arkansas. While most of the firms and angels are located in Little Rock, Fayetteville, and Rogers, there are still notable firms located in other cities. Arkansas is home to 150+ investors on AngelMatch, spanning individual angels, venture capital firms, and private equity firms.
Stephens Group
Website: Stephens Group
Investor Type: Private Equity
Investment Interests: Banking, Healthcare and Tech.
Investment Stage: Early, Seed and Late
Founded in 1933 by W.R. "Witt" Stephens, Stephens Group is one of the largest private investment firms in Arkansas. The firm grew out of the Stephens family's investment banking roots and now invests directly in private and public companies, most at the early and late stages.
Headquartered in Little Rock, Stephens Group typically provides equity capital of $5 million to $75 million or more per transaction, investing across industries including industrial and commercial products, specialty distribution, technology infrastructure, and consumer products. Some of their confirmed portfolio companies include:
TierPoint: TierPoint is a data center and cloud solutions provider. Stephens Group has been an investor since TierPoint's 2014 recapitalization and participated again in its 2020 equity round. TierPoint has raised more than $800M in funding to date.
GoodLeap: GoodLeap (formerly Loanpal) is a point-of-sale financing platform for residential solar and other sustainable home upgrades. Stephens Group invested through its affiliation with WestCap Group. Reported total funding for GoodLeap varies by source (PitchBook cites $1.1B, Forbes cites $1.6B); the exact current figure is flagged below for your review.
StubHub: StubHub is an online ticket resale marketplace that completed its IPO in 2025. Stephens Group, also investing through its WestCap Group affiliation, first invested in StubHub's 2020 Series D round. StubHub has raised roughly $53M in venture funding to date, according to Tracxn.
Chad Fowler
LinkedIn: Chad Fowler
Investor Type: Individual Investor
Investment Interests: Developer tools, cloud infrastructure, and consumer tech
Investment Stage: Seed
Chad Fowler is a Little Rock-based angel investor and General Partner & CTO at BlueYard Capital. He is a well-known figure in the software development community, having previously served as CTO at 6 Wunderkinder (maker of Wunderlist) and SVP of Technology at LivingSocial.
Fowler invests personally in a small number of companies each year, generally at the seed stage. Some of his verified investments include:
Snaplet: Snaplet is a software development tool that provides developers with production-accurate data and ephemeral databases to code against.
Garden (garden.io): Garden is a developer tools company that helps teams spin up production-like cloud environments for development, testing, and CI. Fowler was among the angels in Garden's early funding rounds alongside investors including Nat Friedman and Olivier Pomel.
otto-js: otto-js is a client-side security company focused on detecting and blocking malicious scripts on websites. Fowler served as the company's Chief Product Officer and as a board member.
VIC Technology Venture Development
Website: VIC Tech
Investor Type: Accelerator / Venture Developer
Investment Interests: Healthcare and Biotech
Investment Stage: Early and Seed
VIC Technology Venture Development is a Fayetteville-based venture development firm that forms and funds new technology companies. Founded in 2000 by Dr. Calvin Goforth, VIC licenses early-stage technologies, most often from the University of Arkansas and other research universities, and builds companies around them.
VIC's internal team screens roughly 1,500 technologies a year and forms new portfolio companies from the ones that pass its opportunity assessment process. Two of its Arkansas-based portfolio companies are:
BiologicsMD: BiologicsMD is a therapeutic development company developing targeted therapies for hair loss and severe bone disorders.
Cellia Science: Cellia Science, formed by VIC in 2021, is developing a point-of-care hematology analyzer that uses deep-UV imaging to deliver blood cell counts in minutes rather than days. The technology is licensed from Georgia Tech.
Tyson Ventures
Website: Tyson Ventures
Investor Type: Corporate VC Firm
Investment Interests: Food, Biotech, and Sustainability
Investment Stage: Seed to Late Stage
Tyson Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Tyson Foods and is headquartered in Springdale. Launched in 2016 with an initial $150 million commitment, the fund has backed more than 30 startups working on alternative proteins, food safety, and sustainability.
Tyson Ventures typically writes initial checks in the $500,000 to $10 million range, participating from seed through growth-stage rounds. Its portfolio includes:
Clear Labs: Clear Labs is a food safety testing company that uses a robotic, DNA-sequencing platform to detect pathogens like salmonella, cutting turnaround times from three to five days down to 24 hours. Tyson Ventures made this its first food-safety investment in 2019.
Future Meat: Future Meat is a biotechnology company working on distributed manufacturing of cultivated fat and muscle cells for meat production.
MycoTechnology: MycoTechnology uses fungi-based food-processing platforms to transform the flavor and nutritional value of agricultural products.
Ark Angel Alliance
Website: Ark Angel Alliance
Investor Type: Angel Group
Investment Interests: Biotech and Healthcare
Investment Stage: Early and Seed
Founded in 2020, Ark Angel Alliance is a statewide network of accredited investors that gives preference to Arkansas-affiliated deals. The group's twofold mission is to educate members on early-stage investing and to help capitalize promising Arkansas startups.
Ark Angel Alliance evaluates deals from across the country each month and has passed several funding milestones as its portfolio has grown. Some of their confirmed portfolio companies include:
SFC Fluidics: SFC Fluidics is a medical device company advancing healthcare through microfluidic technologies.
MAIA Biotechnology: MAIA Biotechnology is a clinical-stage, targeted-therapy immuno-oncology company.
Loloft: Loloft is an industrial coworking company offering flexible micro-warehouse spaces.
Warren Stephens
Investor Type: Individual Investor
Investment Interests: Banking, Tech, and Logistics
Investment Stage: Late Stage / Growth
Warren Stephens is Chairman, President, and CEO of Stephens Inc., the Little Rock-based investment bank, and invests personally on occasion outside of his role there. He has made a small number of direct personal investments, including a 2019 Series C investment in logistics company Roadie.
Stephens has led Stephens Inc. since 1986 and has owned the firm outright since 2006. His personal investing activity is limited and mostly undisclosed in size; AngelMatch was unable to verify a typical check size or a specific count of personal investments beyond what is publicly reported.
Wrap Up
So, there you have the list of some of the top investors active in Arkansas. When pitching to investors, it is recommended to research their investment interests and prepare a great pitch deck by following some good online examples.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do Arkansas investors typically invest in a startup?
Check sizes in Arkansas vary widely by investor type. Individual angels and angel groups like Ark Angel Alliance typically write smaller checks toward early rounds, while firms like Stephens Group make larger private equity investments, generally $5 million to $75 million per deal.
What industries do Arkansas investors focus on?
Arkansas investors are especially active in healthcare, biotech, food and agriculture technology, and financial services, reflecting the state's strengths in retail, food production, and banking. Firms like Tyson Ventures and VIC Technology Venture Development focus specifically on food science and biotech spinouts from Arkansas research universities.
How do I get in front of angel investors and VC firms in Arkansas?
To secure a warm introduction to angel investors, participate in Arkansas startup networks and pitch events, such as VIC's opportunity assessment process or Ark Angel Alliance's monthly pitch sessions, and seek referrals from founders or mentors already connected with these investors.
