Seven Companies Named to Sprint Accelerator 2017 Class

Seven startups from around the country have been selected for Sprint Accelerator’s Class of 2017. The participants will continue in the 90-day program through June. This marks the fourth year for the Sprint Accelerator program, which is located in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District.

Sprint and Dairy Farmers of America are partners in the program, which has been restructured for 2017. The 2017 accelerator program introduces a collaboration of corporations that have come together to offer startups even more resources. The program’s startups fall into two verticals—AgTech and Digital—and the selected startups will work directly with leaders from Sprint, Dairy Farmers of America, Pinsight Media+, Virgin Mobile USA and Dairy One to develop 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.”

Sprint launched the Sprint Accelerator in Kansas City in 2014. The space is used to deliver programming, including mentor engagement, STEM programs, entrepreneurial community collaboration and community coworking space.

2017 AgTech Vertical Participants

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

2017 Digital Vertical Participants

  • Centiment, New York, N.Y.: an advertising platform powered by second-generation artificial intelligence that analyzes emotion
  • DART Technologies, New York, N.Y.: a digital product studio that builds location-based solutions for modern transit and urban development
  • Oodles Rewards, Austin, Texas: ustomer loyalty platform that connects brands and retailers with local shoppers