Telluride Foundation: 2017 Telluride Venture Accelerator Kicks Off

03 Mar Telluride Foundation: 2017 Telluride Venture Accelerator Kicks Off

The Telluride Foundation invites the greater Telluride community to attend the kick-off of the 2017 Telluride Venture Accelerator. Event takes place Wednesday, March 8, 5 – 7:30 p.m. at the Liberty, 121 South Fir Street (under Over the Moon). Five companies and 24 entrepreneurs are attending. Please R.S.V.P. to Katie Singer at katie@telluridefoundation.org or call (970)728-8717.

Marc Nager, managing director, TVA

The Telluride Foundation is excited to announce the eight companies that have been accepted into Telluride Venture Accelerator’s 2017 program. This marks year #5 of the Venture Accelerator, and so building on the success of the past four years, this group is the largest, most international, and latest stage of companies yet.

Kick Off Agenda:

5:00 p.m.- Meet and Greet with Teams

5:30 p.m.- Welcome and Introductions

6:00 p.m.- Team Introductions

6:45 p.m.- Closing and Networking

TVA culminates on June 30 with a Demo Day and community showcase. Throughout the program, the teams have access to the Foundation’s network of almost 100 mentors and get to work directly with some well-known experts in their fields – which allows them to dive deep into many aspects of their business. See a high-level overview of the curriculum the teams will be experiencing here.

TVA class of 2016.

TVA’s 2017 cohort:

Thimble.io – Thimble teaches beginners a basic understanding of building electronics through a monthly kit with carefully curated and easy-to-follow instructions. The kits allow anyone to create, learn, and explore by combining hands-on hardware and sometimes a little software with a little help from video tutorials. Examples of some of the start-up’s first initiatives include a wifi-robot, LED cube, robotic arm, alarm clock, weather station, quadcopter, etc. Every month there is a new project. Oscar and David are joining from New York.

SnowCookie – Smart doesn’t begin to cover it. Snowcookie is a mind-altering ski system. Snap it to your gear and get real-time feedback on your technique, also eye-opening measurements of your runs. If that’s not enough, SnowCookie will tell you when your muscles need a break – before your bones do – and facilitate connections to your skiing community. Whether you’re after a performance booster, skill sharpener or fun amplifier, SnowCookie has your covered. Martin and Marcin are in town from Poland.

Frank – Frank is a web-based programmatic media buying platform to help small- and medium-sized enterprises launch cross-channel online advertising campaigns with lower cost and faster delivery. The company combines artificial intelligence technology with simple user interface to bring complex technology to mass markets. Thanks to its platform, companies can now save money and time when doing online advertising campaigns. It only takes five minutes to launch a campaign and the rest (media planning and buying, campaign real-time optimization, reporting) is done through technology. Karla, Henry, Jan, and Ivar join from Estonia.

ShedWool – ShedWool empowers companies of all sizes to schedule their staffs online, in the cloud, for free. Managers can control labor, monitor compliance, communicate with staff through this messaging platform, and review and approve (or deny) shift swaps, time off requests, and much more from their smartphones, tablets, laptops or desktops – all without any of the costs previously associated with such service. Cory joins us in town from Chicago, IL.

RxCBD – RxCBD creates, manufactures, and markets industrial hemp CBD-infused products for pets and their people. The company sells online in all 50 states and through retail locations and veterinarian practices. Debbie joins from Ridgeway, CO.

Bramble Outdoors – Bramble creates essential outdoor gear that helps protect our wild places. Each of its products is rooted in an iconic American landscape, and a portion of every sale goes to protect that region. Trevor joins from San Francisco, CA.

RightClick.io – The vision at RightClick.io is to transform the way everyone looks at the web designing industry. The company is trying to help users utilize their time better. By saving folks from the tedium of manually handling and building a website, their time is freed up to do what they do best. RC has developed an AI-powered chatbot that is truly different than other website builders (AI or human)  anyone has ever worked with before. The RC bot efficiently combines the conversational intelligence and social etiquette of a website designer with high levels of accuracy expected from a machine. Haseeb is joining us from Los Angeles, CA, with the rest of his team from Pakistan.

VanJet – Most everyone has heard of the #vanlife movement now and, well, VanJet takes it to the next level. The business uses Mercedes Metris vans and converts them into hotel rooms on wheels. The vans serve as a customers rental car and accommodations while they travel. All Vanjets are also equipped with GPS trackers and remote unlocking functionality. The mobile apps allow for adding credit cards as well as driver information like insurance and drivers license information. Anyone can buy a Vanjet and rent it out via the platform to earn extra income. Clint will be joining the Telluride gathering from San Francisco, CA.