Sprint Accelerator Announces 2018 Class

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., March 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint (NYSE:S) and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) today announced the nine companies participating in the fifth 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 have a diverse and exciting group of companies joining our program this year," said Doug Dresslaer, Managing Director of the Sprint Accelerator. "For Sprint, we've recruited companies that align with our IoT team's core business strategies and for DFA, we've not only brought in cutting-edge agricultural technology companies, but we also have three dairy food product companies in this year's cohort.

"We are proud to support this year's class of cutting-edge startups. Sprint has an ambitious vision for IoT and we look forward to working alongside these companies to continue the evolution of IoT technologies and solutions," said Ivo Rook, senior vice president of IoT for Sprint.

"We've found tremendous value in this program and leveraging innovation that's happening with startup companies in the ag tech space," said Kevin Strathman, senior vice president of finance at Dairy Farmers of America. "For year two, we're focused not only on building partnerships that can help solve problems and benefit our members on their farms, but it's exciting to add dairy food startups into the mix. We're looking forward to working with these companies to help grow their businesses and ultimately drive consumer demand for dairy."

The Corporate Accelerator is a 90-day, immersive program. Startups in each vertical — IoT, Ag Tech and Dairy Food Products— will work directly with leaders from Sprint, DFA and CoBank as well as other industry experts and mentors.

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

The 2018 Class of the Corporate Accelerator

IoT Vertical Participants

• Keybot from St. Louis, Mo. Keybot helps automate rental access with proprietary keypad lock and app through self-showings and renter and maintenance access.
• Luxe Concierge from Kansas City, Mo.  The Luxe mobile app allows apartment residents to book and manage services like housekeeping, dog walking and dry cleaning pick up.
• Sofihub from Melbourne, Australia. Sofihub is a digital assisted living solution using Artificial Intelligence and sensor technology to support seniors to live independently.

AgTech Vertical Participants

• Pharm Robotics from San Jacinto, Calif. Pharm Robotics is developing robotic systems to automate administration of animal health products in dairy cows.
• Ripe Technologies from San Francisco, Calif. Ripe is transforming the food supply chain using blockchain technology to enable data transparency, so we know where our food is from and what has happened to it.
• SomaDetect from Fredericton, Canada. SomaDetect is a precision-dairy company that is creating an in-line system for measuring every compound of interest in raw milk, including fat, protein, somatic cells, progesterone and trace antibiotics. 

Dairy Food Product Vertical Participants

• Cheddies from San Antonio, Texas.  Cheddies aims to provide all consumers with a cheese cracker that has added nutritional benefits. These benefits include 10g of protein, 12g of carbohydrates, no artificial flavors or colors and 0g of sugar.
• MoPro Nutrition from Birmingham, Mich.  MoPro is the first Greek yogurt infused with CFM Whey Protein Isolate that contains 24 grams of protein per serving and is low in sugar.
• Too Cool Chix from New York, N.Y.  Too Cool Chix creates delicious, all-natural ice cream sandwiches free of artificial ingredients and stabilizing gums.

About Sprint and its Support for Entrepreneurship:
Sprint has a strong history of working with startups in Silicon Valley, Kansas City and around the globe, helping young companies navigate the corporate world and build momentum behind their new businesses. Sprint is committed to supporting the entrepreneurial movement across the country, delivering new business opportunities, and spurring the startup spirit within the company. In 2014, Sprint opened the award-winning Sprint Accelerator in Kansas City – home of the Corporate Accelerator. The accelerator space is used to deliver year-round programming, including mentor engagement, STEM programs, entrepreneurial community collaboration, and community coworking space.

About Sprint:
Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served 59.5 million connections as of Dec. 31, 2016 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America for the past five years. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About Dairy Farmers of America:
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a farmer-owned cooperative representing 8,000 family dairy farms across the United States. DFA is committed to providing value to its farmer-owners through marketing members' milk, providing services and resources on the farm and connecting our family farms with plants and brands such as Borden® Cheese, Plugrá® Butter and Kemps® to name a few. For more information, call 1-888-DFA-MILK (332-6455) or visit dfamilk.com.

SOURCE Sprint

Related Links

http://www.sprint.com