Today, eight startups announced that they have secured pilots or
agreements with Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky following their
participation in the 2021 Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs
Accelerator, powered by Techstars. Hailing from countries around
the world, including France, Switzerland, Israel, and Sweden, and
from cities in the U.S., including Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and
New York, these founders came together online and in-person to
participate in this year’s hybrid program for 12 weeks. Many of the
entrepreneurs have been focused on developing technologies to solve
challenges in the fields of immersive entertainment and future of
work, two sectors most impacted by the global pandemic.
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From meetings with CNBC’s Jim Cramer and Kevin O’Leary to
exploring unique creative approaches with the NBCUniversal Brand
Development Team to immersive workshops on topics like interactive
storytelling and the future of work, the founders had exclusive
opportunities to engage with leaders from across Comcast’s
businesses and advisors from Techstars’ global network. The 2021
founders met with 100+ experts from Xfinity technology, product,
and experience teams, NBC and Telemundo, Comcast Business,
Strategic Development, Universal Theme Parks, Universal Studios,
Sky, among others.
“We were extremely impressed with the remarkable spirit and
ingenuity of this year’s founders and are excited about what they
have accomplished in such a short period of time,” said Sam
Schwartz, Chief Business Development Officer, Comcast. “From
innovations in gaming to accessible communications to employee
experiences, these companies are building amazing technologies that
have the potential to change how we live, work, and play and look
forward to seeing what they do next through their partnerships with
Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky.”
This is the fourth Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs accelerator
class, operating out of Comcast’s headquarters in Philadelphia,
which was recently named one of the fastest-growing big cities for
entrepreneurs by LinkedIn. Since the start of the accelerator in
2018, 43 of the graduated companies have raised a combined $85
million following their participation in the program. The
accelerator is led by Danielle Cohn, Vice President, Startup
Engagement and Head of LIFT Labs, Comcast NBCUniversal, and KJ
Singh, Managing Director, Techstars.
To celebrate the culmination of the program, the startups
presented their concepts to hundreds of investors and business
leaders during Demo Day 2021, which was livestreamed to an audience
from the Ralph J. Roberts Forum at the Comcast Technology Center. A
replay of the event will be available at ComcastNBCULIFT.com.
Meet the 2021 class of the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs
Accelerator, powered by Techstars:
*Indicates Comcast, NBCUniversal or Sky
agreement/partnership
Employee Cycle automates the
HR reporting and analytics process by transforming disconnected
employee data from multiple HR systems into one centralized,
real-time, actionable, and shareable HR dashboard. Employee Cycle
is currently addressing companies with 50-1000 employees which make
up a $5B market opportunity. Employee Cycle sees the market
doubling in size to $10B as they continue to support companies in
the mid mid-market and enterprise. Founders: Bruce
Marable (CEO) & Salas Saraiya | Philadelphia, PA |
*Hollo is an AI enabled
talent experience platform that helps HR teams pre-qualify
candidates for roles and helps resurface past applicants for future
jobs that are a better match while making the communication more
efficient. During the program, Hollo launched a POC with Comcast
and completed testing with Sky Labs. Hollo is currently addressing
the $30B HR solutions market, which is projected to grow to $40B by
2025. Founders: Thomas Moussafer (CEO) & Andy Mpondo Black |
Paris, France |
*Holodia worked with the
Comcast Fitness Center on a pilot to deliver their platform HOLOFIT
to Comcast Employees. The initial reaction to VR cardio fitness was
awesome, or as one user put it: “I think HOLOFIT offers a unique
way to make fitness more fun for those who may traditionally not
enjoy exercising. It also is a great integration of gaming and
movement.” Holodia is currently addressing the $75B VR market.
Founders: Shahin Lauritzen (CEO) & Bojana Knezevic | Zurich,
Switzerland |
*HUSSLUP is a searchable
global network that makes creative talent discovery in media and
entertainment more efficient and more diverse. HUSSLUP is
partnering with premier studios and production companies, including
Universal Pictures, Universal Studio Group, DreamWorks Animation,
Keshet Studios, Westbrook, and AGBO to launch its invite-only Beta
in November. These entertainment companies will be able to discover
and connect with professional writers, producers, directors, and
other creative talents in media and entertainment. Currently,
HUSSLUP has thousands of creatives on the invite waitlist and is
targeting 50M creatives globally. Founder: H Schuster (CEO) |
Los Angeles, California |
*LootLocker is a game
backend-as-a-service that unlocks cross-platform services for
development teams, saving time and money. LootLocker is working
with G4, NBCUniversal and Game Jolt on a 2022 Game Jam focused on
the next generation of game developers and creators. The company is
currently addressing the $204B gaming industry, and 3.2B gamers
globally. Founders: Alexander Bergendahl (CEO) & Andreas
Stokholm | Stockholm, Sweden |
*Nagish’s mobile app allows people who are deaf or
hard of hearing to communicate via phone by converting
speech-to-text and text-to-speech faster and more accurately than
ever before. Through the success of the program, Nagish will be
launching a pilot to communicate with deaf and HoH Comcast
employees and candidates. Nagish is currently addressing a nearly
$100B market which includes people who are deaf and hard of
hearing, and call centers. Co-Founder: Tomer Aharoni (CEO) | New
York, NY |
*Paco is an intelligent
workflow assistant that helps teams eliminate distractions, capture
to-dos and tasks from multiple communication channels allowing
employees to focus on their work. The Comcast Technology, Product,
Xperience team has launched a proof of concept with Paco. Paco is
currently addressing the $3B customer success platforms market
which is growing 25% year over year. Founders: Sumit Suman
(CEO), Sameer Narang & Nitin Pande | New York, NY |
Peek is a social reading app
that creates a multiplayer reading experience, allowing users to
purchase books, discuss in text, engage with authors, and interact
with other readers in real time. Peek is currently addressing the
$150B reading market. Founders: Deborah Igunma (CEO) &
Emmanuel Ojo | London, UK |
Sidewalk connects
communities of business operators to give them access to modern
property and liability insurance at a significantly lower cost than
other insurance providers. Sidewalk is currently addressing the 30M
neighborhood businesses that pay over $140B in annual insurance
premiums. Founders: Brennan Pothetes (CEO) & Jenn Sammarco |
New York, NY |
*Think Confluent is an AI
assistant that analyzes free form text feedback from employees to
provide individualized action plans for employees and actionable
insights for managers to increase team satisfaction. During the
program, Think Confluent secured their first revenue, ran a
successful pilot with Comcast and Sky Labs, and reached $400 ARR in
their sales pipeline. They continue to focus on the employee
experience market which is expected to reach $40B by 2025.
Founders: Sarah Allali (CEO) & Nicolas Cabrignac | Paris,
France |
*Zoog is an asynchronous
communication platform that allows users to take any children's
book and bring it to life using modern AR, ML and advanced
animation capabilities. During the program, Zoog entered
discussions to bring the world-famous NBCUniversal children's
content to life by creating content to be viewed and shared through
communication with loved ones, addressing the $28B ePublishing
market. Founders: Yoav Oren (CEO), Matan Guttman | Tel-Aviv,
Israel |
For more information on the companies in the 2021 accelerator,
visit www.ComcastNBCULIFT.com and follow @LIFT_Labs on Twitter.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and
technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We
are principally focused on broadband, aggregation, and streaming
with 57 million customer relationships across the United States and
Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our
Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and
stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal
Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios,
the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks,
Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky
Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and
Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit
www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Techstars The
Techstars worldwide network helps entrepreneurs succeed. Founded in
2006, Techstars began with three simple ideas—entrepreneurs create
a better future for everyone, collaboration drives innovation, and
great ideas can come from anywhere. Now we are on a mission to
enable every person on the planet to contribute to, and benefit
from, the success of entrepreneurs. In addition to operating
accelerator programs and venture capital funds, we do this by
connecting startups, investors, corporations, and cities to help
build thriving startup communities. Techstars has invested in more
than 2,700 companies with a combined market cap of more than
$206.9B. www.techstars.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211104005852/en/
Media: Louise Eich, Comcast 202-839-2659,
Louise_eich@comcast.com
Matthew Mirandi, Berk Communications
matthew@berkcommunications.com
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