The Internet is rapidly evolving beyond screens and into devices, objects, and hardware. Great product experiences go beyond purely digital experiences and extend into physical touchpoints, products, and connected devices. Embracing this shift, R/GA launched the world’s first and largest connected devices accelerator in partnership with Techstars.

While agencies and startups have always been thought of as two different worlds,

R/GA believed that we could bring together our world-class design, technology, branding, and marketing services to help startups not only build products, but entire brands, as well.

We housed the startups at R/GA’s campus and curated teams to work closely with them on launching their companies. In the process, R/GA shifted its orientation to radically accelerate our product hardware development know-how. In the end, we helped accelerate what Alley Watch called the “9 Hottest Connected Devices Startups in NYC” and gained invaluable experience that our clients will benefit from.

We began by announcing the launch of the accelerator on August 19, 2013. The story was immediately picked up by major press outlets like GigaOM, VentureBeat, and the Wall Street Journal.

In an effort to drum up startup interest and applicants, we spread our message across the globe by attending and speaking at various hardware meet-ups in Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, Austin, Chicago, New York, and London. We also used social media and our vast mentor network to proactively recruit companies into our program.

Three months prior to demo day, hundreds of startups submitted their applications. We spent weeks debating the best applicants and finally selected startups from a diverse range of industries. The final list of nine startups included Hammerhead, the world’s first smart bicycle navigation system, and Enertiv, an energy-monitoring system for midsize commercial buildings.

At the end of the program, each startup presented at two sold-out demo day events, at SXSW in Austin and in New York City. Both events were heavily attended by our clients and venture capitalists, which led to a majority of the startups closing their seed rounds and finding advisors.

Many of the startups in the accelerator already have hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of pre-orders on their products and plans to ship to all corners of the globe.

Fast Company ranked us as one of the “World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in the Internet of Things.”

We will be launching a new accelerator class in autumn 2014.