A startup that includes the grandson of a Houston businessman has been selected to participate in an accelerator program backed by the Walt Disney Co.
StatMuse (statmuse.com) is “an artificial intelligence platform helping sports fans explore data using simple, natural language,” according to founders Eli Dawson and Adam Elmore, who is the grandson of Wilburn Elmore. His parents are Marty and Patti Elmore of West Plains.
“We were prompted to create StatMuse when we realized that, as NBA fans, there wasn’t a place on the web that we could ask ‘Lebron James most points’ and quickly get an answer showing his highest scoring games,” Elmore told the Springfield News-Leader.
Elmore and Dawson grew up in Willow Springs. After graduating from high school in 2005, Dawson earned a finance degree from the University of Arkansas; Elmore studied computer science at Missouri State University for a time, though he left without completing his degree. Dawson lives in San Francisco, while Elmore resides in Nixa.
StateMuse is one of 10 companies chosen to participate in Disney’s accelerator this year. Accelerators generally aim to speed growth of an early-stage company by providing expertise and capital for a short period of time. Disney is the parent company of ESPN.
Elmore called the selection “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
“We look forward to cultivating relationships with the various mentors, which will include top Disney executives and leaders from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, ABC, ESPN and Walt Disney Imagineering,” he said. “This type of unprecedented access to the creativity and imagination of Disney will be instrumental in inspiring us to strengthen and grow our business.”