Disney Launches Disney Accelerator Program for Media and Entertainment Startups - The UpStream

Disney Launches Disney Accelerator Program for Media and Entertainment Startups

posted Sunday Feb 16, 2014 by Nicholas DiMeo

Disney Launches Disney Accelerator Program for Media and Entertainment Startups

Disney has gone head-first into the digital and tech worlds this week by announcing Disney Accelerator, an incubator program that is partnered up with Techstars. The mission is to educate, mentor and seed start-ups in the consumer and entertainment space, on a three-month revolving cycle.

This program is perfect for startups who already have a great idea but just need the contacts in business to make it happen. It also benefits Disney, as the company will be able to see great products during the development process and will also be able to witness innovation as it happens. The trade-off is that the startups will have access to a huge Disney catalog of technologies, stories, characters and any other media from the Disney labs.

Kevin Mayer, Disney's EVP for corporate strategy and business development, said in a statement,

We are an innovative and forward-thinking company, but there is also real value in being friendly to outside ideas. We want Disney Accelerator to be a part of how we profitably and defensibly grow our business.

The Disney Accelerator will include $120,000 in funding to each of the ten companies Disney accepts into its Los Angeles incubator, along with mentoring from some of the greatest names in the media and entertainment spaces.

Participants will receive $120,000 in investment capital to develop their ideas, along with mentor support from top Disney executives including Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, and leaders from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ESPN and Walt Disney Imagineering, among others. Additionally, entertainment industry leaders, venture capitalists and Techstars' extensive network of entrepreneurs, investors and executives will team up as mentors for Disney Accelerator.

Applications are currently being accepted and the program will begin on June 30th, ending in September with an Investor Demo Day, which allows the companies to show off the product or idea to venture capitalists and other business people. The deadline is April 16 for those interested in signing up and giving it a go. I personally can't wait to see which companies are picked and what ideas potentially make it to market through this program.

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