Plug and Play Tech Center announced Monday that Los Angeles-based wearables company Rufus Labs is one of 24 startups invited to join its Internet of Things program. Selected from a pool of 800 companies, Rufus Labs is part of the fifth batch to go through an intensive 12-week program meant to help startups connect and grow. The anchor partners in Rufus Labs’ batch include Philips, Panasonic, SC Johnson, Honeywell, Fujitsu, Henkel, and Caterpillar. This will be the company’s second time working with an accelerator, recently graduating from Make in LA’s prestigious four-month program focused on developing, prototyping and manufacturing products as well as entrepreneurial growth.
Plug and Play Tech Center is the world's largest global technology accelerator and venture fund. Founded in 2006, the accelerator has a global network of over 300 tech startups, 180 investors and a community of leading universities and corporate partners. Plug and Play startups have experienced huge success raising over $1 billion in funding to provide startups with education-immersion programs, workshops, industry networking and deal flow sessions. They have grown to encompass 22 locations around the world, boasting success stories such as PayPal, Dropbox, SoundHound and Lending Club.
“Acceptance into the Plug and Play ventures accelerator is another awesome win for Rufus. We have access to a network of Fortune 500 companies like Honeywell, Panasonic, SC Johnson and more - all with the focus of matching startups with brands for collaboration and potential investment,” says Gabe Grifoni, co-founder and CEO of Rufus Labs. “In the first month of the program we’ve met great people from leaders in our industry. We’re excited for the next couple of months!”
Rufus Labs is gaining a whole new level of mentorship and partnership relations from some of the largest companies on the globe to further their development of the Rufus Cuff. A full-featured wrist communicator, the Rufus Cuff offers both practical consumer applications as well as robust enterprise solutions. With features such as hands-free communication and smartphone and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Rufus Cuff can either be connected to a smartphone or used as a standalone device. The Rufus Cuff is powered by Android and features 64GB of storage.
To conclude the program, Rufus Labs will pitch at the Internet of Things EXPO on Dec. 15, 2016. Rufus Labs is dedicated to changing the way people work and play by uniting humans and machines to improve efficiency and reduce down time. Rufus Labs’ products are built in the USA and a portion of the company’s profits are donated to to help fight disease, hunger and discrimination across the globe.
