During yesterday's Demo Day event at the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia, Comcast leaders were able to highlight their experiences and showcase their innovations to hundreds of potential investors, mentors and customers.

Promoted by Techstars, the 11 participating startups obtained 24 pilots and proofs of concept with Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky thanks to the engagement opportunities the companies received with key leaders of the industry of Comcast NBCUniversal partners and brands during the accelerator.

Sam Schwartz, Chief Business Development Officer at Comcast, stated:

We were thrilled to see the collaboration between this year’s class and leaders from across Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky, leading to opportunities to experiment with new technologies in real world situations.

Valuable accelerator

The selected firms are part of the accelerator's core focus areas, which include connected living, immersive and inclusive experiences, as well as smart and sustainable enterprise.

Through an immersive 12-week program, the founders worked with more than 200 mentors from Comcast, NBCUniversal, Sky and the global Techstars network, who encouraged the founders to rethink their assumptions and test their products.

In addition, personalized workshops and business training were offered with world-renowned business experts, such as Kevin O'Leary, president of O'Leary Ventures, and a visit to Los Angeles was carried out to present their companies and discuss possible pilots with executives from renowned firms, such as Universal Pictures, Universal Studios, Universal Parks and Resorts, Peacock, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, and Universal Creative, resulting in future collaborations and partnerships.

“The LIFT Labs Accelerator not only helps founders grow their startups but also serves as a valuable testing ground for businesses at Comcast to identify partnerships that could further benefit the company and the customers we serve through innovation. We are excited about the potential for the startups to revolutionize sectors that are aligned with Comcast’s goals,” added Schwartz.

Since the first class in 2018, 54 companies have completed Comcast's NBCUniversal LIFT Labs accelerator, raising more than $125 million combined. Additionally, more than 78% have secured proofs of concept, pilots, or commercial deals with Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Sky.

Hundreds applied. Eleven were chosen. The 2022 @comcast @NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Demo Day STARTS NOW! Tune in live https://t.co/q9qJah6u3g pic.twitter.com/XoYPVtLROz

— Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs (@LIFT_Labs) November 2, 2022

Beneficiaries

eino: The pioneer in AI solutions for consumer and business network management. It offers a cloud-based platform for efficient and automated capacity planning and orchestration. It works with the Comcast Business and Xfinity WiFi teams to test their network planning tools for various use cases within consumer, business, and private networks. The goal is to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of Comcast's network capacity planning, deployment, and management workflows.

Founder: Payman Samadi (CEO) | New York, NY.

Fade: Fade technology connects IP and advertising content with commerce on OTT, SVOD, FAST streaming services and digital publishing platforms, allowing viewers to make purchases directly on video. Fade Technology Solutions is piloting proofs of concepts with various teams from Comcast NBCUniversal, Sky and Universal Products & Experiences, to bring world-famous content to life with Fade's discovery and purchase experience for intellectual property and web and television advertising.

Founders: Lori Marion (CEO) and Michelle Perkins | San Francisco, CA.

Imaginary: Is an AI-powered platform and API that identifies specific moments in video and audio in seconds, enabling advertisers and content creators to discover, find and capture content faster. Imaginario AI is working with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment to pilot its technology in support of optimizing digital marketing workflows. During the show, they also successfully tested their technology with Comcast's Strategic Development team.

Founders: José M. Puga (CEO) and Abdelhak Loukkal | London, United Kingdom.

Kosmi: Allows users to create their own virtual space where they can hang out, watch videos, play games, chat and create together online. Kosmi is working with Comcast NBCUniversal on several initiatives including bringing the Kosmi experience to Comcast NBCUniversal employees and exploring use cases with NBCUniversal's content distribution business and Comcast's global technology platform.

Founders: Haukur Rósinkranz (CEO) and Jim Rand | Reykjavik, Iceland.

KYD Labs: Is a blockchain-enabled event ticketing platform that unlocks long-term loyalty and resale revenue for live event hosts and ensures buyers get authentic resale tickets. KYD is working with Comcast Spectacor to define use cases and web3 loyalty solutions to unlock compelling rewards and community for fans on-site.

Founders: Ahmed Nimale (CEO) and David Barrick | New York, NY.

Lluna: Lluna's technology is the TeamOS for modern employers, combining personal operational profiles and smart dashboards to increase the connection, effectiveness and productivity of individuals, teams and companies. Lluna will test the platform with more than a dozen teams at Comcast NBCUniversal focused on strengthening team connection, engagement and productivity.

Founders: Jess Podgajny (CEO) and Aaron Kamholtz | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mtion: Connect streamers with their fans through shared 3D experiences. Mtion will collaborate with T1 Entertainment and Sports, a global esports joint venture between Comcast Spectacor and SK Square, to test its streaming platform with T1 streamers.

Founder: Jeremy Hartmann (CEO) | Toronto, Canada.

Neon Wild: It transforms any child into a custom avatar as the star of immersive stories and games. It’s working with DreamWorks Animation and NBCUniversal to bring their extraordinary library of family-friendly content to life with Neon Wild, starting with Gabby's Dollhouse.

Founders: Matt Weckel (CEO), Stephanie Reaves, Matthew Kellough and Carlos Ramos | Miami, Florida.

NNext: It is an open source vector search database designed for ML applications that stores useful intermediate results from ML applications not captured by current database solutions. NNext is testing its technology with Comcast's TPX team on advanced techniques for displaying and labeling data.

Founder: Peter Njenga (CEO) | New York, NY.

Parallux: It makes it easy for brands and creators to design, build and host 3D virtual spaces in the metaverse. Parallux is working on pilots with a number of teams at Comcast NBCUniversal, including Strategic Development, Retail and Talent Acquisition, to create premium 3D experiences for a wide range of use cases.

Founders: Gabe Zetter (CEO) and Kris Layng | New York, NY.

Visura: It is a marketplace for publishers to license visual content from freelancers. Visura is working with Comcast and Sky, focusing on empowering the next generation of creators around the world and in diverse communities across the country.

Founder: Adriana Letorney (CEO) | New York, NY.

“This is the first year in the history of the accelerator that every single company in the cohort has announced pilots, proofs of concepts, and partnerships with our business – a true testament to the connections these founders have made during the program and the engagement from leaders across Comcast NBCUniversal,” stressed Luke Butler, Executive Director, Startup Engagement at Comcast.