You may know that Disney has an accelerator for new companies. Well, recently the company took a look at some startups and approved a few ofor funding and further help with developing their business. Among them is a plush animals company.
The company, called Smart Toy, makes interactive plush animals. Smart Toy recently was acquired by Cartwheel Kids. A few months back, the new owner decided to expand the line of plush animals and talked to Disney for a possible collaboration. Disney liked the idea and got the company in its accelerator program.
What to expect from the interactive plush animals
The idea is to create a line of interactive plush animals based on popula Disney characters. They will be able to talk, sing and will have various features. The companies didn’t reveal when we can expect the new interactive stuffies to be available. It’s a safe bet they will eventually pop up in Disney’s stores and online shop.
The accelerator program is 15 weeks and includes 120 000 dollars in seed fundning along with coaching and mentoring. After that the companies will have to develop themselves and bring the products to the market. Of course additional help is available.
Apart from the interactive plush animals, the Disney accelerator currently includes some other interesting stuff. For example the company SnowShoe. It has developed special stamps that can unlock digital content when placed against a touch screen, says the Hollywood Reporter.
Another company, called Codarica, announced a video game that actually teaches kids to code. And the company Tyffon will be making an app that turns people into their favorite Disney characters. Participants in the accelerator are also the guys and girls from the robotic toy company Sphero.
In short Disney’s accelerator features quite a few interesting companies. Naturally we are most interested in the upcoming interactive plush animals. But the rest of the projects also seem pretty interesing, so we will be keeping an eye out.
