Internet of Things accelerator launched

Internet of Things accelerator launched

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.,--London and Cambridge based accelerator program, Springboard, has announced the launch of what it claims to be the world's first three month accelerator bootcamp targeting the Internet of Things (IoT).

The newly announced program has already garnered partnership support from some big names, including ARM, Unilever, Neul and $35 computing platform Raspberry Pi.

Each partner will purportedly play an active role in selecting and mentoring the ten teams of entrepreneurs chosen to be part of the program, guiding them through from ideation to Series A funding.

Participating founders will receive over $150,000 in free services, seed capital and mentoring from more than 100 industry leaders around the world, over the course of the three months.

Director of embedded marketing at ARM, Gary Atkinson, emphasized the importance of the IoT going forward and the need for smarter, connected devices. “By 2020 everything that can benefit from an Internet connection will have one,” he said, adding that this had the potential to better use energy and natural resources, monitor healthcare more effectively and improve people’s lives.

Atkinson added that the IoT represented a “massive opportunity to drive growth” and that the firm was therefore “delighted” to support the accelerator.

Eben Upton, CEO and Founder of Raspberry Pi, said that up until now, the IoT had been “largely the playground of corporates,” but that as the cost of hardware fell dramatically, innovation could be shifted towards smaller teams, “in a similar manner to how web technologies have evolved over the last 10 years.”

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