The Minnesota Twins’ accelerator program is back for a third year. On Thursday, the team announced its third cohort comprising 10 startups, including three based in Minneapolis.

Formally known as the Minnesota Twins Accelerator by Techstars, the program selects cohort members from hundreds of applicants based around the world. Participants join a three-month, mentorship-driven program focused on the future of the sports and entertainment industries.

A collaborative effort between the Twins and Boulder-based global investment firm Techstars, the program is the first of its kind in Minnesota sports and the second in the nation to be funded by a Major League Baseball club. Techstars has run similar accelerator programs with Minnesota giants like Cargill, Ecolab, and UnitedHealth Group.

For all of its programs, Techstars provides an investment of “up to $120,000” in each participant.

The Twins’ program begins Nov. 6 and will run through mid-February next year. In addition to the Techstars investment, participants receive mentorship from the Twins and Techstars networks and resources. A living stipend is also provided to the selected startups for the duration of the program. The end goal of the initiative is to accelerate the growth and trajectory of companies looking to transform the sports industry.

Chris Iles, the senior director of innovation and growth for the Minnesota Twins, said participants are selected based on the quality of their founders and employee bases, as well as the potential of their concepts to reshape the sports and entertainment landscape. The program has worked with companies all around the world, including countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria.

The 2023-2024 cohort features three Minneapolis-based startups in its lineup:

• Camperoni, a platform for discovering kids’ camps and activities
• Refr Sports, which streamlines the process of referee management
• SportsVision, an AI platform that analyzes sports videos and provides strategy insights

Prashanth Pollishetty, CEO of SportsVision, said the program combines Techstars’ reputation in shaping startups with the sports-centric focus of the Twins. For him, that presented a unique growth and networking opportunity.

“We’ve observed past participants undergo remarkable transformation, gaining invaluable mentorship, and building networks that would otherwise take years to establish,” Pollishetty said in an email to TCB. “We believed this program would provide us with a springboard to refine our technology, foster strategic partnerships, and align our mission more closely with the evolving needs of the sports industry.”

The program has been beneficial for the Twins too, Iles said.

“The program has been great in pushing our brand beyond baseball, infusing innovation across our organization, and we believe it will provide significant revenue benefits in the long term,” said Iles in an email to TCB. He noted that the Twins actively maintain commercial relationships with participants from the first two cohorts and plan to do the same with this year’s companies.

The team put out calls for this year’s program in May.

Participants will work out of the Ford Center building in the North Loop, right next door to Target Field.

The other participants in this year’s cohort are:

• Cup Carrier Media, a Calgary, Canada-based digital advertising and engagement company
• GUDEA, a Maryland-based startup that “tracks how information flows into networks and social structures that exist online,” according to the Twins.
• Lowr, a United Kingdom-based company that records fan and employee emission data to help organizations reduce their carbon footprint
• PandoPartner, a Toronto-based sponsorship management firm
• PromoShare, a Chicago-based startup that “incentivizes fan content”
• Reifi, a Miami-based company that enables users to invest in athletes
• The Playbook, an Atlanta-based company that aims to “help athletes practice better.”