The U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation is partnering with Startup Junkie to offer mentorship in outdoor recreation, Web 3.0 and general business at TechStars Startup Weekend Fayetteville. 

An exciting and immersive foray into the world of startups, TechStars Startup Weekend is 54 hours of thinking, working and building like a startup. 

The event will be held Aug. 26-28 at the Pryor Center in downtown Fayetteville. 

Over an action-packed three days, meet the very best mentors, investors, co-founders and sponsors who will demonstrate how to get more done faster — and, maybe even start that business.

Groups of participants form teams around ideas on Friday evening and work during the weekend with mentors to bring that idea to execution as they develop a working prototype, demo and a pitch presentation by Sunday evening.

After pitching the final product to a panel of expert judges, a grand prize of $5,000 will be awarded to the winners of each focus area. The money will be dedicated to initial startup costs. 

A Cycling Painstorming Meeting, designed to tackle the biggest problems in cycling, will be a prelude to Startup Weekend. Led by the U of A Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP), this meetup will be Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Bentonville Collaborative. 

A similar painstorming event centered around Web 3.0 will follow on Aug. 22 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. CST. Email Kathryn Carlisle at kcarlisle@walton.uark.edu for the link. 

About the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation creates and curates innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for students across all disciplines. Through the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, McMillon Innovation Studio and Startup Village, OEI provides free workshops and programs — including social and corporate innovation design teams, venture internships, competitions and startup coaching. OEI also offers on-demand support for students who will be innovators within existing organizations and entrepreneurs who start something new.