[August 03, 2015] |
|
Inaugural Group of Startups Selected for Intel Education Accelerator
A company that can turn a park bench into a piano. A Copenhagen startup
that lets children as young as age 3 create and share their own e-books.
A woman-founded partnership that teaches teen girls to code through a
social medium they love. These are just three of the first cohort of
startups selected to take part in the Intel (News - Alert) Education Accelerator.
Intel
Capital, Intel Corporation's global investment organization, and
Intel Education in April announced the formation of the accelerator, a
specialized program to help ed-tech startups transform education for
student success. After beating out nearly 200 other applicants - half of
them from overseas - the selected startups on Monday will begin a
rigorous and enriching four-month program that will provide them with
working capital, veteran mentorship and dedicated workspace in the heart
of Silicon Valley.
"We had a really strong global response during the application process,
and we are extremely happy with the eight diverse companies that will be
a part of our inaugural cohort," said Intel Vice President John Galvin,
general manager of Intel Education. "These companies are eager to grow
and make an impact on education, just as Intel has been committed to
throughout our history. Together with our 50 mentors, we can't wait to
work with these impressive startups."
The Intel Education Accelerator lets selected companies receive guidance
from technology, business and education experts; secure investments of
up to $100,000 each from Intel Capital (News - Alert); and leverage Intel's global
relationships with educators and governments in more than 100 countries.
Participants in the accelerator - housed at GSVlabs
of Redwood City, California - will receive access to weekly classes,
coaching and opportunities to pilot their products in schools. Judges
and mentors for the program include Tom Kalinske, former CEO of
LeapFrog*, Sega* and Mattel*; Intel Capital President Arvind Sodhani (News - Alert);
veteran Silicon Valley journalist and entrepreneur John Battelle; Ronald
Chandler, former chief information officer for the Los Angeles Unified
School District; Genevieve Bell, vice president of Intel Labs; and
high-ranking officials from AT&T (News - Alert)*, Coursera*, Goldman Sachs*, the
International Society for Technology in Education* (ISTE), Silicon
Valley Bank*, VICE Media* and the Walt Disney (News - Alert) Co.*
The four-month program culminates in a Dec. 2 "pitch day" for the
program's entrepreneurs in front of prospective funders.
The accelerator is open to both K-12 and higher-ed startups, ith
special consideration for companies focused on data analytics and
adaptive learning. Members of the inaugural cohort are:
-
BeeLine* (Woodside, California), whose digital reading tools help
students learn to read faster and help those with dyslexia and other
learning differences read more fluently.
-
Echelon Creative* (New York City), which replaces normal words in text
messages with advanced synonyms, teaching a user new vocabulary words
in context.
-
GotIt!* (Menlo Park, California), an on-demand knowledge platform that
lets students post photos of schoolwork problems and instantly connect
with a study expert who can provide detailed explanations. The
parallel ranking, bidding and matching engine was founded by Vietnam
native Hung Tran, who previously led an international effort to build
an open courseware program for millions of college students in his
homeland.
-
Griti* (San Francisco), which produces fast, on-demand video help that
supports college students using on-campus peer networks of subject
experts.
-
Myriad Sensors* (Mountain View, California), maker of a wireless
sensor called PocketLab* that connects to a smartphone, tablet or
Chromebook and instantly streams measurement data similar to that of
expensive lab equipment. PocketLab helps educators and students bring
science, technology, engineering and math to real-world settings.
-
ToneTree* (Troy, New York), which combines a small hardware unit with
intelligent software to transform nearly any surface into an
interactive musical instrument for innovative audio/visual education.
-
Vidcode* (New York City), founded by software developers and educators
Alexandra Diracles and Melissa Halfon to teach computer programming to
teen girls by enabling them to upload their mobile videos to
Instagram* and customize them with code.
-
WriteReader* (Copenhagen, Denmark), a literacy-based learning platform
for children to create and share their own storybooks and improve
their reading and writing skills through big data and adaptive
learning.
Over the past decade, Intel Education has helped more than 300 million
students and 15 million teachers in 100 countries obtain locally
relevant solutions, hardware, software and tools for learning and
creating a more vibrant, interactive learning environment. During that
time, Intel and the Intel Foundation have invested more than US$1
billion in education programs and technology access efforts for youth
around the globe.
To learn more about the Intel Education Accelerator, visit www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/accelerator/intel-education-accelerator.html.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The
company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the
foundation for the world's computing devices. As a leader in corporate
responsibility and sustainability, Intel also manufactures the world's
first commercially available "conflict-free" microprocessors. Additional
information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com
and blogs.intel.com,
and about Intel's conflict-free efforts at conflictfree.intel.com.
About Intel Capital
Intel Capital, Intel's global investment organization, makes equity
investments in innovative technology start-ups and companies worldwide.
Intel Capital invests in a broad range of companies offering hardware,
software, and services targeting enterprise, mobility, consumer
Internet, digital media and semiconductor manufacturing. Since 1991,
Intel Capital has invested nearly US$11.6 billion in over 1,440
companies in 57 countries. In that timeframe, 213 portfolio companies
have gone public on various exchanges around the world and 373 were
acquired or participated in a merger. For more information on what makes
Intel Capital one of the world's most powerful venture capital firms,
visit www.intelcapital.com
or follow @Intelcapital.
Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the
United States and other countries.
*Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150803005472/en/
[ Back To Mobile World Congress's Homepage ]
|