Nike has just announced its first Nike+ Accelerator program, powered by TechStars, aimed at cultivating companies interested in leveraging Nike+ technology.
TechStars will provide the accelerator model, which has managed to raise $275 million in venture capital for its graduates over the past six years of operation. The program begins in March.
In case you’re still in the dark, Nike+ is Nike’s array of digital products, including the Nike+ fitness tracking app, along with various hardware like the Nike FuelBand.
The program will last three months, with the accelerator located just outside Nike’s World Headquarters in Portland, Oregon.
Mentors like Nike’s Vice President of Digital Sport Stefan Olander, TechStars founder David Cohen, and Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai will guide 10 companies in creating products using the Nike+ API and SDK. Obviously, almost all of these products will be focused on physical training, coaching, exercise and sports in general.
Applications are due on February 3, and can be found here.
It’ll be interesting to see what comes out of this during June demo days. Nike has plenty of competition in the sector, including the UP from Jawbone and the new fitness tracker from Basis, so it’ll be exciting to see this program spur innovation even more.