Spencer Jones, a registered nurse and founder of Jones Innovative Medical Solutions, won the $150,000 grand prize in the first Central Arkansas ARK Challenge for technology startups.

Patients and hospitals both stand to benefit from Jones’ invention, the blood draw system known as the Bifurcated Venous Access Device.

On the path to commercialization, Jones has worked closely with Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center’s Rudy Ortiz, an ARK Challenge mentor and business consultant at the ASBTDC Lead Center at UALR.

Ortiz assisted the new entrepreneur with intellectual property protection, revenue modeling, profit retention structuring, and general small business development. Jones called Ortiz his “most active advisor” and said he was “such an advocate for me as a young entrepreneur as well as the CEO of the company.”

“Spencer has a great product that solves a real-world problem,” Ortiz said.

Jones and other participants in the three-month ARK Challenge business accelerator program made pitches to a panel of judges Nov. 12 on Demo Day at the Clinton Presidential Center.