Type : 
Accelerators
FOCUS : 
Disability Innovation
duration : 
12 months
summary

Verizon partnered with coLab on an innovative mission to go beyond standard accessibility innovation, and instead, unlock opportunity for all. We built this accelerator from the ground up, in partnership with the disability community, to ensure we could identify and accelerate the top startups building technology for the disability community with 5G, MEC, AI, & XR.

01
Introduction

As one of the largest companies in the world, Verizon understands the importance of delivering on their commitments to customers and shareholders – especially in the worlds of ESG and CSR. They could see that disability innovation was an enormous opportunity for them to have an impact on an issue that has been core to their CSR strategy for years. They also recognized that their unique scale and technological capabilities make them well positioned to have a real impact in the space.

02
Challenge

With a network of labs, and a strong investment in innovation teams, Verizon was well equipped to explore vast, complex categories of technological innovation. However, they needed help finding ways to connect their next generation technological capabilities and platforms to the issues that they cared about the most. Furthermore, they needed to find a way to engage with early stage startups, impacted communities, and sensitive issues in a way that was respectful and produced real results.

FOCUS AREA

Disability Innovation is a key pillar of Verizon’s CSR narrative, and an area we identified as poised for disruption by 5G technology. We built our program from the ground-up, working closely with the disability community to do more than unlock access — instead, unlocking opportunity for all. This cohort represented the top startups building technology for the disability community with 5G, MEC, AI, & XR. Beyond that, we also committed to working with startups who authentically integrate people with disabilities into executive leadership roles, and that had validated their solutions within the disability community. 

03
The solution

We created a 16 week innovation program, bringing together Verizon executive leadership, industry leaders, experts, nonprofits, and the most promising new solutions focused on disability innovation. The cohort put 7 seed stage and series A startups on an accelerated growth trajectory, supported by a host of mentors, community leaders, and partners. Startups gained access to Verizon’s cutting-edge technology, funding to scale, and opportunities to pitch influential figures in the industry. Our team built a fully bespoke curriculum and supporting community for this program, emphasizing working with mentors, partners, and subject matter experts with deep and meaningful connections to diverse groups of disability communities, while capitalizing on Verizon’s unique capabilities to give the startups differentiated advantages.

04
Impact

Through this cohort, our Verizon partners learned about and invested in solutions that have advanced disability innovation across many different platforms and emerging technology. For Verizon, it was important that they had the opportunity to engage with, and invest in, next-generation technology with additional potential for partnerships, commercial pilots, and beyond. At the same time, we also gave their team exposure to thought leadership, professional development, and industry insights into major sustainability trends impacting the telecom industry – a top priority. The accelerator also provided Verizon with a platform to continue to showcase brand leadership on this critical issue. But above all, the emphasis remained on the mission of the accelerator – building a world that unlocks opportunity for all.

7
Startups Selected
41
Community partners
156
Showcase attendees
86%
Disability Led Startups
117
meetings with mentors
171
Applicants
05
Spotlight
Cognixion

Cognixion aims to unlock speech for hundreds of millions of people worldwide that are affected by communication disabilities. The Cognixion ONE platform is the world’s first brain-computer interface with an augmented reality wearable speech-generating device, offering both speech and an integrated AI assistant for home automation control.

Evolution Devices

For people with limited mobility due to neurological impairments and disabilities, the EvoWalk platform is a digital physical therapy solution and muscle stimulation wearable that prevents falls and restores freedom of mobility.

GoVoBo

For people in the deaf and hard of hearing community who lack the freedom to easily communicate through multiple online platforms that are proprietary, GoVoBo is an application for universal, platform-agnostic access to all spoken content.

Imanyco

For deaf and hard of hearing people participating in in-person group conversations, Comunify is an app created by Imanyco that transcribes live conversation and visually color-codes each speaker's voice to identify who is saying what.

Puffin Innovations

For people with complex physical disabilities, Puffin Innovations has created a mouth-operated input device that provides a seamless, hands-free connection between human and machine.

Waymap

Waymap is the world’s only navigation app that guides you both indoors and outdoors. Our wayfinding system is accurate up to 3 feet, with no signals or hardware required for the user outside of the app. Waymap was built for visually impaired persons and is expanding the technology to work for anyone, anywhere.

WearWorks

WearWorks is a haptic platform company building products and experiences that communicate information through touch. For people with visual impairments, our first product, Wayband, is a wearable that offers hands-free haptic wayfinding through vibrations that guide users to their destination. Wayband recently made history by enabling a blind ultramarathon runner to compete independently in the New York City marathon.

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