Eight of the
11 startups have secured pilots or partnerships with Comcast
NBCUniversal
Today marked the culmination of the third annual Comcast
NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator, powered by Techstars, with 11
tech startups presenting their companies to hundreds of investors,
mentors, and the entrepreneur community during this year’s virtual
Demo Day.
During the 13-week accelerator program, these startups worked
virtually due to the global pandemic alongside executives and
experts from Comcast NBCUniversal and the Techstars network. These
relationships with mentors from across Comcast NBCUniversal’s
businesses helped the founders sharpen business models, gain
valuable connections and insights, and refine pitches to potential
investors and clients. During the program, eight of the 11
companies secured or completed pilots, proofs of concepts or deals
with Comcast NBCUniversal’s partners and brands.
Over the course of the accelerator, these startups that are
shaping the future of work, personalizing customer experience, and
providing platforms to feature a more diverse range of content
participated in custom workshops, 1:1 business coaching, and
meetings with advisors. The founders hailed from cities around the
world, including New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, San Francisco,
Washington D.C., Dallas, and Birmingham, UK.
“Partnering with startups has always helped Comcast stay on the
cutting edge of technology and innovation,” said Sam Schwartz,
Chief Business Development Officer, Comcast. “I’m incredibly proud
of these entrepreneurs, and our team, for their perseverance and
commitment to innovation, especially during these unprecedented
times. The global pandemic has led to shifts in how we work and
connect, and many of these founders are building the tools and
services that will make work - and life - more efficient,
interactive, and collaborative.”
The startups were supported by the Startup Engagement LIFT Labs
team, led by Danielle Cohn, Vice President, and Luke Butler, Senior
Director, who worked side-by-side with Techstars veteran, KJ Singh,
Managing Director of the 2020 accelerator. Mentors included experts
and leaders from across Comcast NBCUniversal’s businesses,
including the Xfinity technology, product and experience teams; the
NBC and Telemundo broadcast stations; NBCUniversal cable networks;
Universal Studios; Universal Theme Parks; DreamWorks Animation;
Comcast Business; Comcast Ventures; Strategic Development; as well
as mentors from Techstars’ expansive network.
Since the first class in 2018, 32 companies have completed the
Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator, powered by Techstars,
and 75% have secured pilots or deals with a division or business
unit of Comcast NBCUniversal.
Meet the 2020 class of the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs
Accelerator, powered by Techstars:
AfroLandTV, Dallas, TX AfroLandTV is an OTT
streaming media platform for Pan African TV shows and movies.
During the program they grew their audience by an average of 170%
week over week and they are in advanced discussions with XUMO (a
streaming service acquired by Comcast in 2020) to bring African
content to their 24M+ users. Founders: Michael Maponga (CEO)
& Brittin Maponga
Beam Health Group, New York, NY Beam Health
empowers healthcare professionals and health systems with premium
telehealth services to provide quality, convenient care to
patients. As a result of the program, Beam Health is exploring a
partnership with Comcast's Employee Benefits team to enable virtual
behavioral health clinics with Beam’s telemedicine platform to
expand access to mental health services for employees at Comcast
NBCUniversal. They are also exploring a partnership with Comcast
Business to bundle their telehealth product with Comcast’s internet
service as an offering to new and existing medical practice
customers. Founders: Sas Ponnapalli (CEO) & Ranga
Jayawardena
Cast, San Francisco, CA Cast's automated
audio-visual reports with an embedded call to action help customers
understand complex concepts and drive high-value actions. Comcast
has piloted Cast’s technology to explain benefits such as
compensation and disability insurance to employees, with plans to
expand to the Employee Stock Purchase Program, Family & Medical
Leave, Commissions and several other areas. In addition, Cast added
four new customers and started several pilots, including Medallia,
Gainsight, Egnyte and Yelp. Founders: Dickey Singh (CEO) &
Daljeet Virdi
Covatic, Birmingham, UK Covatic's mobile SDK
empowers media companies to deliver exceptional in-app experiences
by identifying when, where and how their audience can engage with
content without needing to expose personal data. The team launched
a proof of concept with FreeWheel – testing a solution that uses
Covatic’s technology to provide audience data to enhance the ad
decisioning process. This is done in a way that ensures a user’s
identity data stays on their personal devices, therefore, safe and
secure. Founder: Nick Pinks (CEO)
Glow Up Games, Brooklyn, NY Glow Up Games develops
and publishes character-driven mobile games for underrepresented
gamers. It gathers key data on this overlooked demographic to
encourage more diverse characters and storylines in the gaming
industry. The team is building Insecure: The Come Up Game, a
free-to-play mobile game based on HBO’s popular series “Insecure.”
Founders: Mitu Khandaker (CEO) & Latoya Peterson
Introvoke, San Francisco, CA Introvoke provides
white-label technology that powers virtual connections, hybrid live
events, and elevated networking in a branded experience. Beginning
with Demo Day, Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs will use Introvoke to
power its virtual events, while the Comcast Town Hall team is
helping to extend the technology to all internal teams looking to
hold interactive, virtual events. In addition, Comcast is piloting
the Introvoke networking hub as an everyday platform for community
and networking for employees. During the past two months, the team
has started over 50 projects with companies like TIME and Brand
Minds. Founders: Oana Manolache (CEO) & Andrei
Ermilov
Kidas, Philadelphia, PA Kidas protects children
online by automatically detecting and alerting of cyberbullying and
online predators in video games using AI. During the program, the
team manufactured early versions of the device that’s trialing with
parents of Xbox gamers to inform product improvements. Founder:
Ron Kerbs (CEO)
Percepta, Philadelphia, PA Percepta leverages
unbiased, AI-driven computer vision technology to analyze existing
security camera feeds and alert employees of shoplifting incidents
in real-time. The team is testing the product in retail stores in
New York City and Philadelphia, and Percepta received an investment
of more than $1M from a strategic investor. Founders: Philippe
Sawaya (CEO), Neil Gramopadhye, & Jonathan Mak
Seshie, Philadelphia, PA Seshie is a marketplace
of expert guides offering live and virtual team-building
experiences for organizations to increase employee morale and build
company culture. During the program, teams from across Comcast
NBCUniversal, as well as from companies such as Penn Mutual and
Hawthorne, have booked virtual experiences through the Seshie
platform, which now features 100+ virtual experiences. Founders:
Kofi Frimpong (CEO) & William Lee
Showcase, New York City, NY Showcase makes dense
business videos skimmable with chapters, transcripts and shareable
highlights, enabling enterprises to own their customer
relationships by offering a suite of video tools in existing
environments. Showcase is working with Comcast Business to explore
potential applications of their technology in the enterprise sales
process, operational support for technicians in the field, and
customer vertical-specific videos. Founders: Amay Sheth (CEO),
Jacob Ley & Jimmy Zhang
WorkChew, Washington D.C. WorkChew is a
marketplace connecting a community of mobile and remote workers to
workspaces in restaurants and hotels across the U.S. and beyond.
The team is rolling out a pilot for Comcast employees in early 2021
and has grown revenue by 3025% since the beginning of the program.
In addition, they launched in new markets, Philadelphia and
Atlanta, and launched their hotel partner network offering open
space, meeting rooms and hotel rooms. Founders: Maisha Burt
(CEO) & Allyson McDougal
For more information on the companies in this year’s accelerator
go to Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and
technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable,
NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’
largest high-speed internet, video, and phone providers to
residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides
these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and
security and automation services to residential customers under the
Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news,
entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo
broadcast networks, television production operations, television
station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and
Resorts. Sky is one of Europe's leading media and entertainment
companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content
through its pay television services. It also provides
communications services, including residential high-speed internet,
phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast
network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original
content, and has exclusive content rights. 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 2,200 companies
that today have a combined market cap valuation of $30 Billion.
www.techstars.com
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201203005824/en/
Media Contacts: Jennifer Sala Comcast Corporation
267-240-8702 Jennifer_Sala@comcast.com Ali Whitman Techstars
Ali.Whitman@techstars.com
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