Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national cooperative owned by family farmers, and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced the companies selected for the 2018 Accelerator program, which includes startups focused on ag tech and dairy food products. For the 2018 program, DFA also will be joined by CoBank, a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America, as a supporting partner.
“We’ve found tremendous value in this program and leveraging innovation that’s happening with startup companies in the ag tech space,” said Kevin Strathman, senior vice president of finance at DFA. “For year two, we’re focused not only on building partnerships that can help solve problems and benefit our members on their farms, but it’s also exciting to add dairy food startups into the mix. We’re looking forward to working with these companies to help grow their businesses and ultimately drive consumer demand for dairy.”
The Accelerator is a 90-day, immersive program, which launches today and continues through June. Startups will work directly with leaders from Sprint, DFA and CoBank as well as other industry experts and mentors. This year’s participants come from cities around the U.S. and Canada and are working to develop both hardware and software-based solutions.
The Ag Tech and Dairy Food Product companies selected in the 2018 Accelerator are:
- Pharm Robotics from San Jacinto, Calif. Pharm Robotics is developing robotic systems to automate
the administration of animal health products in dairy cows. - Ripe Technologies from San Francisco, Calif. Ripe is transforming the food supply chain using
blockchain technology to enable data transparency, so we know where our food is from and what
has happened to it. - SomaDetect from Fredericton, Canada. SomaDetect is a precision-dairy company that is creating an
in-line system for measuring every compound of interest in raw milk, including fat, protein, somatic
cells, progesterone and trace antibiotics. - Cheddies from San Antonio, Texas. Cheddies aims to provide all consumers with a cheese cracker
that has added nutritional benefits. These benefits include 10 grams of protein, 12 grams of
carbohydrates, no artificial flavors or colors and 0 grams of sugar. - MoPro Nutrition from Birmingham, Mich. MoPro is the first Greek yogurt infused with CFM Whey
Protein Isolate that contains 24 grams of protein per serving and is low in sugar.
1405 N . 98th Street • Kansas City, KS 66111
P: 1-888-332-6455 F: 816-801-6590 - Too Cool Chix from New York, N.Y. Too Cool Chix creates delicious, all-natural ice cream
sandwiches free of artificial ingredients and stabilizing gums.
As a sponsor for the Accelerator, DFA will provide mentorship, connections and resources to help
accelerate the growth of the ag tech and dairy food product startups selected. Features of the 90-day
program include:
- Targeted, strategic meetings with the corporate partner teams to discuss business development,
pilots and potential sponsorships; - Mentoring from DFA senior staff and their networks, as well as from the investor, business
development and entrepreneurial communities; - Business building sessions around product, brand, marketing and entrepreneurship;
State-of-the-art workspace facilities provided at Sprint Accelerator in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts
District.
Visit the Sprint Accelerator calendar for public opportunities to engage with these companies at
sprintaccelerator.com.
