The Walt Disney Company has announced it is accepting applications for the 2020 Disney Accelerator, a program designed to accelerate the growth of innovative startups from around the world.
Ten growth-stage startups will be selected for the three-month mentorship program that will connect them with the creativity, imagination, and expertise of Disney, including by providing unique access to Disney’s leadership team. The program will officially begin in July and will conclude with a Demo Day in October. Applications are due by April 3, 2020.
The 2020 Disney Accelerator is open to growth-stage companies with a vision for making a significant impact on the future of technology and entertainment. The program provides participating companies with investment capital, access to co-working space at Disney’s creative campus in Glendale and unparalleled mentorship and support from top Disney executives.
This year, the team is looking to explore specific technologies including artificial intelligence, augmented reality, e-commerce, data analytics, frontier tech, and robotics.
Companies that have been part of the Disney Accelerator since its launch in 2014 continue to thrive and many have collaborated with divisions of Disney to bring new products and experiences to market:
Epic Games, maker of Unreal Engine, joined the Disney Accelerator in 2017 and has since worked with numerous parts of Disney. ILM and Epic Games recently developed LED stage production technology for the Lucasfilm series on Disney+, The Mandalorian. Epic also worked closely with Walt Disney Imagineering to leverage Unreal Engine’s real-time rendering capabilities to create the interactive experience found onboard the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction in Disneyland.
Sphero, a company that creates programmable robots and STEAM activities that connect learning and play, was part of the inaugural Disney Accelerator and created numerous robotics toys with Disney, including the BB-8 droid toy, the number one Star Wars toy in 2015.
StatMuse joined the Disney Accelerator in 2014 as a three-person company and today is a leader in voice and text-based search for sports stats and information.
Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform, joined the Disney Accelerator in 2017. In 2019, more than 200 million games were played on the Kahoot! platform by 1.2 billion players in 200 countries. Kahoot! is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange’s Merkur Market.
For more information and to apply for participation in the 2020 Disney Accelerator program, visit DisneyAccelerator.com.