Disney Accelerator Showcases 10 Start-Ups at Demo Day
October 14 2014 - 6:00PM
Business Wire
Second Disney Accelerator Slated for 2015
Today, Disney Accelerator powered by Techstars culminates in a
Demo Day where its 10 participating companies will present their
businesses to the investment and entrepreneurial communities,
industry leaders and Disney executives. The Disney Accelerator
participants have just finished a 15-week immersive program that
gave them access to mentorship from more than 60 Disney executives
as well as 70 entrepreneurs and investors from the business
community, up to $120K in investment capital to develop their
companies and special access to Disney resources from across the
company.
The participating companies have reached many significant
milestones during the Disney Accelerator. At Demo Day, Smart Toy, a
company that makes toys that teach, talk, and interact with
children, announced today that it has been acquired by Cartwheel
Kids, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of children’s products. In
addition, SnowShoe announced that it had secured $2.2 million in
seed financing and Choremonster and Codarica both launched mobile
apps. Sphero also introduced its new Ollie product during the
program, and Twigtale named as its editor-in-chief Dr. Harvey Karp,
the renowned pediatrician and child development specialist.
“This group of start-ups has made tremendous progress evolving
and growing their businesses in the past fifteen weeks,” said Kevin
Mayer, Disney’s Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and
Business Development. “It has been a fantastic learning experience
for them and an opportunity for Disney to get in on the ground
floor with a new generation of innovators. We look forward to the
opportunity to work with all of these companies moving forward and
to meeting a new set of participants next year.”
The companies participating in Disney Accelerator are:
- ChoreMonster - ChoreMonster
unites parents and kids with the most ridiculously fun and
motivating family framework, so every home is a joyful place.
choremonster.com
- Codarica - Codarica creates
seriously fun games that teach kids to code. codarica.com
- Jogg - Jogg is a mobile video
platform that changes the direction of how we engage our audience.
joggapp.co
- Naritiv - Naritiv is a marketing
and analytics platform for micro-content, starting with Snapchat.
naritiv.com
- Sidelines - Sidelines is a
people-powered content marketing platform that drives brand
influence through discussions by expert fans. sidelinesapp.com
- Smart Toy - Smart Toy is a
learning toy that talks and listens to kids. Smart Toy can be
customized to know your child’s name, teach lessons, and much more.
smarttoylabs.com
- SnowShoe - SnowShoe creates
magic with a touch of plastic. SnowShoe-powered objects unlock
digital content through your smartphone. snowshoestamp.com
- Sphero - Sphero is the connected
play company, fusing digital and physical play by creating toys and
robots that you control with a smart device. gosphero.com
- Twigtale - Twigtale builds
happier families through personalization and expert-fueled
storytelling. twigtale.com
- TYFFON - TYFFON makes
entertaining apps that put you in the center of the fun -- founded
by the creators of the ZombieBooth series, with over 30 million
downloads. tyffon.com
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), together with its
subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international
entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments:
media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer
products and interactive. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual
revenues of $45 billion in its Fiscal Year 2013.
About Techstars
The massive Techstars interconnected network of over 3,000
successful entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and corporate
partners help the most promising startups do more faster. With 13
programs worldwide, its mentorship-driven accelerators fund the
best companies in the most entrepreneurial communities. Since 2006,
80% of the 500 companies from almost 40 Techstars programs have
received funding, representing approximately $2 billion in market
capitalization.
The Walt Disney CompanyCarrie Davis,
818-931-3270Carrie.Davis@disney.comorMariam Sughayer,
818-560-3117Mariam.Sughayer@disney.com
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