Techstars’ Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator Class of 2020
Sep 08, 2020
By KJ Singh, Managing Director of the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator Powered by Techstars
Today marks the start of the 2020 Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator Powered by Techstars. This is the third year of the accelerator in partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal, and the twelfth accelerator program I am running at Techstars. COVID-19 made our journey to the start of the program long and bumpy, but we couldn’t be more proud of the class we will be working with virtually this fall.
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 program will be held virtually, allowing founders to participate in the immersive program from cities across the globe. We received applications from over 40 countries and ultimately selected founders that hail from the UK, and all across the U.S. including California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington D.C. More than half of the companies self-identify as having an under-represented founder while almost half self-identify as having a female founder.
When we started recruiting for this class, we were focused on the following themes: Future of Work, Interactive and Immersive Experiences, Advanced Connectivity, and Personalized Experiences. As the global pandemic brought the world to a halt, we put an even greater emphasis on the Future of Work…not only for the problems these companies are solving today, but also the problems they will continue to solve in the post-pandemic future. Some of these companies are helping us bring the same high-quality experience of our cornerstone in-person program to this year's virtual accelerator and we are excited to be early customers!
We had a very competitive application pool and selecting these 11 companies was extremely difficult. I want to thank all of our mentors — both Techstars and Comcast NBCUniversal — who provided insight, time, and feedback throughout the selection process. Additionally, I’d like to thank the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs team for their continued support and commitment to collaboration, diversity and innovation. We will be sharing more about each company in the weeks leading up to Demo Day on December 1st, but for now please join us in welcoming the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator, powered by Techstars Class of 2020!
AfroLandTV
AfroLandTV is an OTT streaming media platform for Pan-African TV shows and movies.
Beam Health Group
Beam Health empowers healthcare professionals and health systems with premium telehealth services to provide quality, convenient care to patients.
Cast
Cast's automated audio-visual reports with embedded call to action helps customers understand complex concepts and drive high-value actions.
Covatic
Covatic's mobile SDK empowers media companies to deliver exceptional in-app experiences by identifying when, where, and how each individual can engage with content without needing to expose personal data.
Glow Up Games
Glow Up Games develops and publishes character-driven mobile games for underrepresented gamers and gathers key data on this overlooked demographic to encourage more diverse characters and storylines in the gaming industry.
Introvoke
Introvoke provides white label technology that powers virtual connections, hybrid live events and elevated networking in a branded experience.
Kidas
Kidas is an AI service that protects children from cyberbullying and online predators by alerting parents about potentially dangerous activities in their child’s digital life.
Percepta
Percepta leverages unbiased, AI-driven computer vision technology to analyze existing security camera feeds and alert employees of shoplifting incidents in real-time.
Seshie
Seshie is a marketplace of expert guides offering live and virtual team building experiences for organizations to increase employee morale and build company culture.
Showcase Jobs
Showcase is a video-first hiring platform that uses asynchronous videos to help companies streamline the recruitment process by eliminating repetitive interviews.
WorkChew
WorkChew is a marketplace connecting a community of mobile and remote workers to workspaces in restaurants and hotels across the U.S. and beyond.