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Disney Accelerator Showcases 10 Start-Ups at Demo DayBURBANK, Calif. --(Business Wire)-- Today, Disney (News - Alert) Accelerator powered by Techstars culminates in a Demo Day where its 10 participating companies will present their businesses to the investment and entrepreneurial communities, industry leaders and Disney executives. The Disney Accelerator participants have just finished a 15-week immersive program that gave them access to mentorship from more than 60 Disney executives as well as 70 entrepreneurs and investors from the business community, up to $120K in investment capital to develop their companies and special access to Disney resources from across the company. The participating companies have reached many significant milestones during the Disney Accelerator. At Demo Day, Smart Toy, a company that makes toys that teach, talk, and interact with children, announced today that it has been acquired by Cartwheel Kids, a Los Angeles-based manufacturer of children's products. In addition, SnowShoe announced that it had secured $2.2 million in seed financing and Choremonster and Codarica both launched mobile apps. Sphero also introduced its new Ollie product during the program, and Twigtale named as its editor-in-chief Dr. Harvey Karp, the renowned pediatrician and child development specialist. "This group of start-ups has made tremendous progress evolving and growing their businesses in the past fifteen weeks," said Kevin Mayer, Disney's Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Business Development. "It has been a fantastic learning experience for them and an opportunity for Disney to get in on the ground floor with a new generation of innovators. We look forward to the opportunity to work with all of these companies moving forward and to meeting a new set of participants next year." The companies participating in Disney Accelerator are:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive. Disney is a Dow 30 company and had annual revenues of $45 billion in its Fiscal Year 2013. About Techstars The massive Techstars interconnected network of over 3,000 successful entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and corporate partners help the most promising startups do more faster. With 13 programs worldwide, its mentorship-driven accelerators fund the best companies in the most entrepreneurial communities. Since 2006, 80% of the 500 companies from almost 40 Techstars programs have received funding, representing approximately $2 billion in market capitalization.
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