Sprint lunches Accelerator program together with Dairy Farmers of America

The Sprint Accelerator announced plans for the 2018 Accelerator program which will begin on March 5, 2018. The 90-day program will feature mentors from Sprint and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the lead sponsor organizations, and from the investor, business development and entrepreneurial communities.

DFA announced at the 2017 Sprint Accelerator Demo Day in June that it will once again be a lead sponsor of the 2018 program. The organizations will be joined by CoBank, a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America, as a supporting partner. DFA, along with CoBank, will further expand their involvement by recruiting both AgTech companies as well as food product companies that are dairy-focused or dairy-based.  Also new for 2018, the Sprint Business IoT team will be sponsoring the program.

The first group of Corporate Sponsors for the 2018 program are:

Sprint – Sprint is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. The Sprint Business IoT team is looking for startups in the following categories:

Mobility Services

• Categories: automotive, autonomous, asset tracking and Location-Based-Services.

Artificial Intelligence

• Categories: automation, automotive, energy, cybersecurity, call center, insurance and smart cities.

Automation – detection of events and alerts/response enable the next generation of automation providing customers with ability to respond automatically – limiting or eliminating loss.

• Categories: automotive, energy, cybersecurity, call center, insurance and smart cities. Feeds Big Data.

Dairy Farmers of America – DFA is looking for startups in AgTech with applications related to any portion of the dairy value chain including, but not limited to, product testing, data management, herd health and management, supply chain optimization, sustainability and traceability.

DFA is also seeking food start-ups that are dairy-focused or dairy-based looking to elevate their product to the next level. It is not a requirement that the product is exclusively dairy, but dairy must be a primary ingredient.

Features of the 2018 Accelerator program include:

• Targeted, strategic meetings with the corporate partner teams to discuss business development, pilots and potential sponsorships;
• Mentors from the Corporate Sponsors and their networks, as well as from the investor, business development and entrepreneurial communities;
• Business building sessions around product, brand, marketing and entrepreneurship;
• State-of-the-art workspace facilities provided at Sprint Accelerator in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District.