The Walt Disney Company Announces Participants for Its Startup Accelerator Program
July 07 2014 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Disney Accelerator Initiative Will Mentor 11
Technology-based Companies
Today The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) announced 11 startup
companies that have been selected for a special mentorship and
investment program. Kicking off today, Disney Accelerator, powered
by Techstars, is a fifteen-week immersive program which gives
companies access to mentorship from top Disney executives, up to
$120,000 in investment capital to develop their companies as well
as special access to resources from across The Walt Disney
Company.
To kick off the program, participating companies will meet with
various mentors including Chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger, and
leaders from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC, ESPN and Walt Disney
Imagineering, as well as other entertainment industry leaders,
investors, and Techstars’ extensive network of technology mentors.
Selected companies will develop mentorship relationships based on
expertise, interest and background. Participating companies will
meet with mentors regularly and work together to build and expand
business plans, product launches, marketing campaigns, and
formulate long-term strategies. The program culminates with a Demo
Day in October, where each team will present their company to
industry leaders, Disney executives, and the entrepreneurial
community.
The selected companies represent a diverse cross-section of
technology-driven media and entertainment from many different
geographies. The 11 companies selected to participate in the Disney
Accelerator program are:
- Buzzstarter - Buzzstarter is the
world's first scalable programmatic content marketing
platform.
- ChoreMonster - ChoreMonster is a web
and mobile platform that makes chores fun for kids and turns
parents into superheroes.
- Codarica - Codarica serves as
children’s first interaction into the world of code with help from
characters Cody Coder and Holly Hacker.
- Cogo - Cogo provides video monetization
solutions for content creators.
- Jogg - Jogg simplifies the act of
acquiring video from anyone. Users can gather, edit and share much
more than just video from their own device.
- Sphero - Sphero is the connected play
company, which fuses digital and physical play by creating robots
that you control with a smart device.
- Sidelines - Sidelines fixes the problem
of substandard online discussions and comments by sourcing smart,
high-quality discussions from its curated team of over 400 experts,
and distributing these discussions to publishers based on
relevance.
- SnowShoe - SnowShoe makes simple,
magical pieces of plastic that interact with touch screens to
create the perfect bridge between physical items and digital
content.
- Twigtale - Twigtale provides parents
with personalized, high-quality, accessible expert advice for every
major transition a child undergoes.
- TYFFON - TYFFON is an entertainment app
development company and creator of the ZombieBooth series with more
than 25 million total downloads.
- Ubooly - Ubooly is a learning toy that
talks and listens to kids. Ubooly can be customized to know your
child's name, teach lessons, and much more.
“With Disney Accelerator we are now bringing the creativity and
imagination of Disney to early stage startups in a way we have
never done before,” said Kevin A. Mayer, executive vice president,
Corporate Strategy and Business Development, The Walt Disney
Company. “We are thrilled by the response we’ve received and the
high caliber of applicants to the program and we look forward to
sharing our knowledge with this excellent group of creative
entrepreneurs and really making a difference with these startup
companies.”
About The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, 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
Techstars is the #1 startup accelerator and mentorship-driven
seed stage investment program in the world. Techstars delivers
programs annually in top startup markets all over the world.
Additionally, Techstars powers programs in collaboration with some
of the best brands in the world. Companies have gone on to average
more than $1.6M raised in outside capital after the completion of
the program. To date, Techstars has funded more than 350 companies
that are collectively valued in the billions of dollars.
DisneyMariam Sughayer,
818-560-3117mariam.sughayer@disney.com
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