R/GA Ventures, with partner Westfield Labs, has concluded its Connected Commerce Accelerator program with a demo event in San Francisco.
The accelerator is a three-month, immersive, mentor driven program designed for startups developing connected hardware products and software services with the goal of helping them to build businesses and brands that can scale. The program taps into the emerging class of products that combine hardware, data, and digital services in compelling ways for consumers and businesses.
Following 12 weeks of mentorship, pilots, and ongoing work with brand, technology, and business consultants from the R/GA Services team, Westfield Labs, and program partners, the ten participating companies presented their commerce and retail-focused businesses to investors and business partners.
The participants represent the next wave of innovation in the commerce and retail space, ranging from innovative takes on fulfillment, delivery, and returns to retail workforce optimization and training solutions, adaptive messaging powered by machine learning, a new platform for the connected store, and companies using artificial intelligence (AI) for customer service, bot management, and image recognition.