500 Startups Unveils 29 Disruptive Companies from its 26th Seed Accelerator Program

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global venture capital firm 500 Startups announced today the debut of 29 companies in the 26th batch of its seed accelerator program.

With this batch, 500 Startups continues its mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, recognizing that great founders come in all shades, genders and nationalities. Of the 29 companies in Batch 26, 37% come from outside of the U.S., including Brazil, Nigeria and India; 30% of the companies have a female founder and 70% have one or more founders who identify as a racial minority. The batch brings global startup ecosystem players together, creating powerful networking opportunities.

Batch 26 companies are building solutions to issues in multiple industries, including low-code development, which enables non-engineers to code, insurance-as-a-service API that facilitates instant quoting and software that helps advertisers weed out fraudulent social media influencers.

“With this accelerator cycle, we again set out to find companies with truly game changing innovations,” said Aaron Blumenthal, venture partner at 500 Startups. “We’re proud to have executed that vision successfully with this cohort, which stems from all over the world. They are a great reflection of our truly global recruiting effort that puts an emphasis on community and diversity.”

The companies in Batch 26 are:

• Acadium: Connects business owners and marketing professionals with aspiring digital marketers.
• Alloy Card: Offers a consumer credit card with automation that gives people more control over their finances while saving time.
• Amixr: Incident management software that helps engineering teams around the world optimize their workflow while minimizing hassles.
• AppBind: Lets partners buy and resell online software subscriptions as easily as licensed software, by bringing B2B SaaS into the global reseller market of implementation consultants, system integrators and distributors.
• Bliinx: Offers an easy and fast way to find information on business relationships by aggregating all interactions with contacts into Office 365.
• Briza: Provides an insurance-as-a-service API that enables instant quoting, binding and issuance of commercial insurance policies.
• Butlr: Empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions using artificial intelligence and real-time behavior analytics.
• CENOS: Easy-to-use simulation software that allows engineers to iterate designs faster than physical prototypes for induction heating and antenna design, among others. 
• Connected Analytics: Nigeria-based company helping businesses and banks integrate data analytics and rewards in order to retain customers and increase revenue. 
• Fakespot: Eliminates misinformation and deceptive content on ecommerce sites for consumers, brands and platforms.
• GamerzClass: Offers exclusive esports masterclasses with professionals to shape the future of gaming.
• Get on Board: Recruitment platform that connects global companies with the best Latin American tech talent.
• Juked: Aggregates information on esports games, including live streams, player profiles, scores and calendars to make esports easier to watch and to promote engagement.
• Kyndoo: Helps advertisers weed out fraudulent social media influencers and provides data around their authenticity and performance.
• Mero Technologies: Retrofits commercial buildings with sensors to analyze in real time traffic and consumables, such as toilet paper and soap, to inform cleaning routes.
• Omnitron Sensors: Enables full autonomy of self-driving cars and drones with novel silicon photonics processes for sensors in safety-critical systems.
• Pilota: Applies machine learning to predict flight disruptions for passengers and automatically re-books a traveler's flight for free.
• Plant an App: Gives IT teams the speed of low-code development without compromising flexibility.
• Pluto: Customizes sleep pillows at scale based on the user’s body stats, such as height, neck-to-shoulder ratio and sleep preferences in order to optimize sleep. 
• Predina: Applies AI to predict the risk of vehicle crashes for insurance and safety purposes, by analyzing more than 14 million historical crashes and other factors, such as street intersections, weather conditions and time.
• Renetec: Enables the creation of GUIs for embedded systems with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, which reduces development time and costs.
• ShardSecure: Enables enterprises to securely move and store sensitive information to the cloud.
• Shiplyst: India-based ocean freight procurement marketplace that reduces costs for exporters and importers and gives them greater visibility into their shipments.
• Silk + Sonder: Provides a women's mental wellness subscription service that makes daily self-help more personalized through journaling and peer-to-peer support.
• Sira Medical: Helps clinicians plan surgeries more efficiently through augmented reality, by providing them with high fidelity 3D holograms of CT scans and MRIs.
• The Atlas: An online community of city officials crowdsourcing ideas that is modernizing the $1.6 trillion local government market.
• Thematic: Matches content creators who need great songs for their videos with music artists who need influencer marketing.
• Trash Warrior: Offers on-demand junk removal services for businesses. Customers can book services online for affordable pricing and reliable quality.
• Userpilot: Helps software product managers personalize the in-app experience across the user journey at scale.

Select companies from the batch will be part of 500 Startups’ upcoming Demo Day on March 19, 2020 at Bespoke Events, Westfield San Francisco Center, Level 4, 845 Market Street, Suite 450, San Francisco.

About 500 Startups
500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. It is one of the most active venture capital firms in the world.

Since its inception in Silicon Valley, 500 Startups has invested in over 2,300 companies via its 5 global funds and 17 thematic funds dedicated to either specific geographic markets or verticals. Its 100+ team members are located in 20 countries around the world in order to support the 500 Startups global portfolio of investments which spans more than 75 countries.

Notable investments in the 500 portfolio include Credit Karma, Twilio, Canva, Grab, Bukalapak, The RealReal, Talkdesk, Knotel, Udemy, and Ipsy.

Beyond providing seed capital, 500 supports startups via their Seed Accelerator Programs which emphasize growth marketing, customer acquisition, lean startup practices, and fundraising for seed companies.

Media Contact
Madeline Kalicka, Karbo Communications for 500 Startups
415-255-6512
[email protected]

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