7 Startups From Across the Country Selected For Revamped Program

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (BUSINESS WIRE), April 03, 2017 - Sprint (NYSE:S) and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) today announced the seven companies participating in the fourth annual accelerator program, which launches today and continues through June. The Sprint Accelerator is located in the heart of the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City, MO.

“We are very excited for the launch of our restructured program so that the 2017 Corporate Accelerator program can better position our entrepreneurs to meet the needs of our corporate sponsors and, hopefully, develop long-term partnerships,” said Kevin McGinnis, vice president of Pinsight Media+ and managing executive of the Sprint Accelerator.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Sprint on the 2017 Accelerator program,” said Kevin Strathman, senior vice president of Finance at Dairy Farmers of America. “There is tremendous innovation happening in the agriculture space, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with and helping mentor these startup companies.”

The Corporate Accelerator is a 90-day, immersive program. Startups in two verticals — Digital and Ag Tech — will work directly with leaders from Sprint, DFA, Pinsight Media+, Virgin Mobile USA, and Dairy One. This year’s participants come from cities around the U.S. and are working to develop both hardware and software-based solutions.

"We’ve made some big changes to our program for the fourth year,” said Doug Dresslaer, managing director of the Corporate Accelerator. “Some of the goals and technologies of these two independent vertical programs are strikingly complementary, which means these entrepreneurs have more access to the resources they need to grow. And, with even more mentorship from experts than in the past, we expect the collaborations between the startups and corporations to be incredibly productive for both sides."

“Our goal, is to deliver on strategic outcomes shared by both the corporation and the startup,” said McGinnis. “Together, we hope to bring innovations to market that will be transformational to digital and agricultural businesses.”

Visit the Sprint Accelerator calendar for public opportunities to engage with these companies at sprintaccelerator.com.

The 2017 Class of the Corporate Accelerator

AgTech Vertical Participants

• AgVoice from Altanta, GA. AgVoice is a mobile voice-interaction service designed for food and agriculture professionals to capture insights on the go.
• HerdDogg from Longmont, CO. HerdDogg builds state-of-the-art smart ear tags and readers for livestock ID and health monitoring.
• My Dairy Dashboard from Frisco, TX. My Dairy Dashboard connects your data to simplify your dairy decisions through a visual dashboard of aggregated herd, feed, milk, and weather data.
• TradeLanes from Miami, FL. TradeLanes digitizes and automates the supply chain for shippers, merchants, and traders.

Digital Vertical Participants

• Centiment from New York, NY. Centiment is an advertising platform powered by second-generation artificial intelligence (AI) that analyzes emotion, going beyond the constraints of current sentiment analysis.
• DART Technologies from New York, NY. A digital product studio at the intersection of new media (x) mobility, DART Technologies builds location-based solutions for modern transit and urban development.
• Oodles Rewards from Austin, TX. A customer loyalty platform that connects brands and retailers with local shoppers.