Korea-based accelerator program and investment company SparkLabs is widening its stable further after revealing plans to run its first program dedicated to hardware startups.
SparkLabs, which last year launched a $30 million fund to support seed stage companies worldwide, says its new program — dubbed Internet of ‘Things’ — will open its doors in Seoul in Winter 2014. The initiative will target a companies across a range of different sectors that are “improving how we live and work everywhere” — including the energy, education, transport, health, food verticals.
“SparkLabs is creating the first dedicated Internet of Things accelerator in Korea to offer global startup opportunities for the best hardware and software engineers in the world to be at the forefront of a revolution,” said Frank Meehan, a partner at SparkLabs, in a statement.
The development is interesting since SparkLab’s third classes includes a number of hardware startups, such as wearable device FeelU and the Domo Bio medical device.
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Asia is already host to one of the world’s top hardware-focused accelerator programs — Shenzhen, China, based Haxlr8r , which we visited in 2012 — which makes SparkLabs’ Internet of Things another notable hub in the region. The organization’s three-month accelerator programs have included participants and mentors from a range of countries outside of Korea, and the hardware focus will also be global.
SparkLabs announced its new program at the demo day of its third batch of startups, which is taking place today in Seoul.
Image via donatas1205 / Shutterstock
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