Fuel AI/ML 2026 Showcase Day
Fuel's Fall 2026 AI/ML cohort takes the stage on Wednesday, October 28, and we'd love for you to join us.
Eleven companies have spent 10 weeks with us in Bentonville working with enterprise partners, mentors, and customers across the Heartland. Showcase Day is where they show what they've built. Each founder gets on stage to walk you through their product, how it works, and where it's going next.
These founders have been heads down for 10 weeks, and this is their night. Come with questions, meet the teams, and celebrate with us. Some of our best conversations of the year happen on Showcase Day.
What to expect
A keynote to open the evening
Eleven pitches, four to five minutes each, from the AI/ML 2026 cohort
Founders, mentors, investors, enterprise folks, and friends of Fuel from across Northwest Arkansas
Schedule
5:00 PM Doors open, welcome and networking
5:30 PM Keynote
6:00 PM Cohort presentations
8:00 PM After party, through 10:00 PM
Details
Wednesday, October 28 · 5:00-8:00 PM, after party 8:00-10:00 PM
The Record, 104 SW A St, downtown Bentonville
Free, RSVP required
Meet the AI/ML 2026 cohort
This cohort spans video commerce, retail media, cyber risk, demand forecasting, wholesale distribution, retail donations, the skilled trades, fleet security, customer-made brand content, delegation of authority, and emergency drones.
Advisar helps eCommerce leaders at consumer brands get more from their retail media budget by showing them which Walmart and Amazon ads actually drove sales. Built in Northwest Arkansas; founder Christina Johnson spent ten years at Walmart in retail media, including as Chief of Staff.
Aptly is the system of record for delegation of authority: who can approve, sign, and commit, at what limits, human or AI agent. It replaces the spreadsheets and PDFs that hold this today, SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant, with 30+ enterprise integrations from Workday and SAP to Okta.
Buy-it.ai makes video shoppable: it detects every product in a video and generates the storefront to buy it, at scale. Creators, publishers, and retailers use it on content they already have.
Fleet Defender provides full asset protection for fleet vehicles: it neutralizes cyber threats and detects fuel and trailer thefts in real time, backed by a 24/7 vehicle security operations center. Backed by Werner Enterprises and multiple Federal Government Agencies; founder Terry Reinert spent decades in offensive cyber warfare with the Government and military.
Foreko is demand forecasting and procurement for physical goods companies: connect the data, ask in plain English, and it recommends the next order. Built in Northwest Arkansas by a team from Red Bull, Google, and PepsiCo.
GALE Project builds pole-mounted stations that send drones to emergencies: the station detects the incident, and the drone is airborne in seconds without waiting on a pilot. The patented docking design is in R&D for lunar rovers. Founder Jay Kriner is a Shark Tank alum who spent a decade running DoD ordnance projects.
Gumption is the workforce platform for the skilled trades: it screens and matches candidates for contractors who still hire on instinct, then helps them develop and retain the crew.
LiquiDonate donates what retail can't sell: returns skip the trip back to the warehouse, and excess inventory reaches nonprofits in under a week. More than 150 retail brands, Salesforce, Bombas, and Liquid Death among them, have placed over 18 million items through it. Founder Disney Petit was Postmates' fifteenth employee.
NicklOne runs wholesale and DTC from one system: orders, payments, and inventory in a single source of truth, with Nickl.AI flagging low stock, churn risk, and margin changes. Its founders sold into big-box retail and felt the pain firsthand; enterprise engagements include La-Z-Boy.
Scale Social AI has built enterprise content infrastructure that lets brands source, govern, and activate authentic content from real customers at scale. It is already working with brands including Zoetis and is backed by Jason Calacanis.
Sentrio prices cyber risk in dollars: FAIR-standard models turn security telemetry into expected losses, and CISOs use them to defend budgets in the boardroom. Founder Iván Lendner came from the founding team of Strike.
Whether you've been part of the Fuel community for years or this is your first event, come say hi. We'd love to meet you.
Fuel is a 10-week enterprise-ready accelerator operated by Startup Junkie Foundation. We pair seed and growth-stage tech startups with customers, curriculum, and access to capital. Fuel is made possible with support from the Walton Family Foundation and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.