Fuel Accelerator to Celebrate 2026 HealthTech Cohort with Public Showcase at Thaden Field

Bentonville, AR | The Fuel Accelerator, a flagship program of Startup Junkie Foundation, will close out its 2026 HealthTech cohort with a public Showcase Day on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Thaden Field in Bentonville. The evening event will bring eight emerging health technology companies together with investors, healthcare leaders, mentors, and the broader Northwest Arkansas innovation community for live pitches, networking, and a celebration of the cohort’s 10 weeks of work.

The Showcase will take place inside the hangar at Thaden Field for an evening of pitches, conversation, and connection. Doors open at 5 p.m. with welcome and networking, followed by a keynote at 5:30, cohort presentations from 6 to 7:30, and a cocktail celebration to close the night. The event is free and open to the public with registration at luma.com/pe1r2pig.

“The Showcase Day is the capstone for the Fuel HealthTech program, but it is only the beginning of continued success in Arkansas for many of the participating companies.” said Fuel Accelerator Director, Grace Gill. “This event amplifies the momentum this cohort has been building in healthcare innovation over the past weeks.”

The 2026 HealthTech cohort is Fuel’s fourth dedicated health technology program and brings together eight ventures tackling some of the most persistent challenges in healthcare – from revenue cycle automation and clinical compliance to virtual care, biofeedback, voice-based diagnostics, and workforce hiring.

The companies presenting at the 2026 HealthTech Showcase:

• Adentris – Austin, Texas — AI-powered compliance platform that audits hospital medical records in real time, flagging errors and reducing claim denials.

• Cair Health – Palo Alto, California — AI-driven revenue cycle management platform that automates claims, denials, appeals, and billing workflows for healthcare providers.

• Healco – Jersey City, New Jersey — Governance layer for employer-sponsored care, enabling direct care, specialty bundles, and AI-driven care navigation alongside existing health plans.

• Healium – Columbia, Missouri — Clinically validated biofeedback VR platform that reduces anxiety in under four minutes using real-time biometric signals.

• Predictiv Care – San Francisco, California — AI platform that builds patient-specific digital twins from genomic and EHR data for risk prediction, therapy optimization, and population health.

• The TeleDentists – Kansas City, Missouri — On-demand virtual dental care connecting patients with licensed dentists in ten minutes or less for emergency, triage, and screening needs.

• Vital Audio – Brooklyn, New York — Voice-based health monitoring platform that extracts heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory metrics from short voice samples — no wearables required.

• WayPave – Bentonville, Arkansas — Mobile-first hiring platform matching job seekers with healthcare and frontline roles to reduce time-to-interview and improve candidate quality.

This year’s program marked the first time Fuel formally extended its HealthTech curriculum beyond Northwest Arkansas, with a dedicated week in Little Rock that connected cohort companies to key healthcare leaders and hospital systems. Across the full 10 weeks, founders engaged with Arkansas health systems, payers, self-insured employers, investors, and a deep bench of mentors to advance commercialization in regulated healthcare markets.

Cohort Highlights from the 2026 HealthTech Program

Reports state strong outcomes from this fourth healthtech cohort leading up to the Showcase event. Cohort companies have engaged with health systems, healthcare policy leaders and payers, resulting in numerous meaningful conversations, deliberate customer meetings and secured state-wide pilot deals.

Fuel has now run 12 accelerators, serving 101 startups from 21 states and 11 countries. Across that history, the program has facilitated more than 150 enterprise pilots and commercial contracts, and supported companies that have collectively raised over $260 million in funding.

The 2026 HealthTech cohort is made possible by the financial support of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the Walton Family Foundation.

For more information about Fuel Accelerator, visit fuelaccelerator.com. To register for the Showcase, visit luma.com/pe1r2pig.

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About Fuel Accelerator

The Fuel Accelerator program is a 10-week enterprise-ready accelerator designed to help seed and growth-stage tech startups become enterprise ready. It provides startups with the training, resources, and connections necessary to accelerate the adoption of tangible technology solutions. Unlike traditional accelerators, Fuel focuses on operational value training in addition to venture capital coaching. The program offers hands-on education, workshops, and feedback sessions, allowing participants to gain nurtured relationships and valuable insights. Fuel is a no-cost and no-equity accelerator based in Northwest Arkansas with office space provided at The Collaborative in Bentonville.

About Startup Junkie Foundation

Startup Junkie is a mission-driven organization that exists to improve lives through innovation and entrepreneurship. With a goal to stimulate economic growth in the region, the organization provides a variety of services including mentorship, consulting, training, and more. Startup Junkie has an extensive network of partners and professionals that are dedicated to enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Northwest Arkansas.

Media contact

Caleb Talley, Executive Director, Startup Junkie Foundation
caleb@startupjunkie.org | 479-879-7997

Grace Gill, Director, Fuel Accelerator
grace@startupjunkie.org | 316-305-1386