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Disney Names Accelerator Lineup

Walt Disney Co. announced on Thursday the 10 early-stage entertainment and technology companies that it has chosen to participate in the second class of its business accelerator program. The Burbank entertainment and media giant started the program a year ago to provide fledgling companies access to Disney executives, entertainment industry leaders and venture capitalists. Its partner in the program is Techstars, a Boulder, Colo. accelerator. The 10 startups will participate in a three-month mentorship program starting this month that concludes in October with a demonstration of their products. The startups each receive $120,000 in financing from Disney, with both Disney and Techstars taking equity stakes. Selected for the program were: *Decisive, a New York developer of software for mobile advertising. *Emotiv, a San Francisco company that uses headsets to collect brainwave data on mental performance and emotions. *Fem Inc., a Santa Monica video-engagement platform *Imperson, an Israeli company with technology to conduct conversations with television and film characters. *Littlstar, a New York aggregator of virtual-reality content. *MakieLab, a London company with technology to create customizable toys printed in 3-D. *Open Bionics, a bionic hand developer in Bristol, England. *Pundit, a New York creator of a technology to do audio interviews via its Twitter network. *HYP3R, developer of a technology for businesses to locate and engage customers in real time. *StatMuse, a platform for fans to access sports statistics. “Last year’s Disney Accelerator exceeded our expectations on many fronts,” said Kevin Mayer, Disney’s chief strategy officer. “We are excited to roll up our sleeves again this year and help these cutting-edge startups achieve their goals.” Startups from last year’s class included Sidelines, a San Francisco content marketing platform; Smart Toy, a customizable smart toy developer in Los Angeles that was later acquired by Cartwheel Kids in Culver City; and Naritiv, a Santa Monica marketing and analytics platform. Shares closed up 41 cents, or a fraction of one percent, to $115.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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