US-based media and entertainment company Walt Disney Company revealed the 10 startups that will make up the 2015 class of its Disney Accelerator programme yesterday.
The accelerator was set up in partnership with accelerator Techstars in February 2014. Each participant will receive three months of mentorship and $120,000 in seed funding before presenting their products and services on a demo day in October.
The startups include real-time mobile advertising platform Decisive and Emotiv, a bioinformatics firm that uses EEG (or electroencephalography) to measure mental performance and enable users to control virtual objects with their thoughts.
Hyp3r enables companies to engage with consumers by taking into account their surroundings in real-time; Imperson is a platform that enables viewers to talk to their favourite film and television characters; and Littlstar is an aggregator for virtual reality content.
The cohort also includes MaikeLab, which enables children to create their own toys through 3D printing; OpenBionics, a robotics company working on 3D printed hands for amputees; and Pundit, an audio platform that enables Twitter users to host question and answer sessions.
The final two startups are StatMuse, which is working on a platform that enables sports fans to gain an insight into data by answering queries in plain English, and Fem, a video platform that analyses the emotions of viewers to understand which content has an effect on them.
All the startups who participated in last year’s inaugural group have received follow-on funding, become profitable or celebrated an exit through an acquisition, Disney stated.
Kevin Mayer, chief strategy officer of Walt Disney, said: “Last year’s Disney Accelerator exceeded our expectations on many fronts. We are excited to roll up our sleeves again this year and help these cutting-edge startups achieve their goals.”