We’ve hit the ground running since then to find the best creative minds, entrepreneurs, and visionaries to help them develop and build our industry of tomorrow. After reviewing many diverse applicants from all around the world, today we’re pleased to announce the 11 startup companies that Disney selected for this special, immersive mentorship program:
- 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 more than 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.
For the next 15 weeks, Disney Accelerator will provide these companies with the tools and support they need to further expand their visions. Top Disney executives will serve as mentors, and each will receive up to $120,000 in investment capital to develop their companies. Participants will also have special access to stories, characters, technology and other resources from across the Company.
The program kicks off with a meeting of teams and mentors, including Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, and leaders from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC, ESPN and Walt Disney Imagineering. Moving forward, the selected companies will consult with mentors regularly to build on their concepts and business plans, and to formulate long-term strategies. The program will culminate with a Demo Day in September, where each company will present to Disney executives, industry leaders and the entrepreneurial community.
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. 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.