“DFA is committed to helping support and grow the dairy industry, and this program allows us to really keep a finger on the pulse of new technologies and innovation for both our farmers and the industry at large,” says Kevin Strathman, senior vice president of finance at DFA. “It’s also been really inspiring to help foster and mentor these entrepreneurs, and we’ve found that we learn as much from them as they do from us.”
DFA’s sponsorship announcement for the 2019 program was made at the 2018 Accelerator Program Demonstration Day recently held in Kansas City, where CEOs from the participating startups presented their ideas.
The Ag Tech and Dairy Food Product companies participating in the 2018 Demo Day presentations were:
- 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 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.
- 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.
"The collaboration, mentorship and idea-sharing from DFA, Sprint and the other startup companies has been invaluable,” says Dr. Bethany Deshpande, Founder and CEO at SomaDetect. “Their support has absolutely helped our business, and I feel incredibly thankful for how committed everyone was in helping us grow our business, especially DFA. I would highly recommend the Accelerator as we’ve gained tremendous traction in such a short time and taken our business to the next level.”
Additional details for the 2019 Sprint Accelerator program will be available later this year.
About Dairy Farmers of America
Dairy Farmers of America is a farmer-owned global food company focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving more than 14,500 family farmers, DFA works with some of the world’s largest food companies to develop ingredients that satisfy their customers’ cravings while staying committed to social responsibility and ethical farming. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com.
About Sprint and its support for entrepreneurship
Sprint has a strong history of working with startups in Silicon Valley, Kansas City and around the globe, helping young companies navigate the corporate world and build momentum behind their new businesses. Sprint is committed to supporting the entrepreneurial movement across the country, delivering new business opportunities, and spurring the startup spirit within the company. In 2014, Sprint opened the award-winning Sprint Accelerator in Kansas City – home of the Corporate Accelerator. The accelerator space is used to deliver year-round programming, including mentor engagement, STEM programs, entrepreneurial community collaboration, and community coworking space.
About Sprint:
Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served 59.5 million connections as of Dec. 31, 2016 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America for the past five years. You can learn more and visit Sprint at sprint.com or facebook.com/sprint and twitter.com/sprint.
