Mike Smith Jr. brings more than 20 years of business advisory experience to the Innovate Arkansas team. Mike is a former senior vice president in the Corporate Finance Group of investment bank Stephens Inc.
He completed more than 50 merger and acquisition, public offering, and private placement transactions for privately owned and publicly traded middle market companies during his 13 years there. He also sourced and executed principal investments for the Stephens family.
Mike is actively involved in venture capital and entrepreneurial development in the region. He is a managing member of Gravity Ventures Arkansas, a member-owned and member-managed angel fund. Mike serves on several private company boards and speaks about venture capital and early stage business development at industry conferences and events.
Mike holds a Bachelor’s of Economics from Duke University and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in finance from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.