5G Open Innovation Lab (5G OI Lab) announced today that international telecommunication leaders AT&T and Comcast have joined its innovation ecosystem. The Lab also announced today its Batch #8 cohort — its largest to date with over $313M in venture capital raised and 17 multi-stage startups embarking on 5G OI Lab’s Fall program, which begins this week.

AT&T and Comcast join 5G Open Innovation Lab today as founding partners, alongside a total of 18 other founding and corporate partners.

“Collaboration is the key to innovation,” said Jay Cary, VP, Strategic Alliances, Corporate Strategy at AT&T. “As we continue forging ahead to realize 5G’s full potential, it is important to work with the nimble startup and innovation community so we can move faster and solve real-world technology challenges more holistically and effectively for our customers. We are excited to be part of that start-up thinking with the 5G Open Innovation Lab.”

Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company, brings together connectivity and platforms with content and experiences to reach hundreds of millions of customers, viewers, and guests worldwide. Through Xfinity, Comcast Business and Sky, the company provides world-class broadband, wireless, and video; and through NBC, Telemundo, Universal, Peacock and Sky it produces, distributes, and streams leading entertainment, sports, and news. Comcast’s Universal Destinations and Experiences team brings incredible theme parks and attractions to life for guests across the globe.

Batch #8 welcomes 17 new startups to 5G OI Lab’s open ecosystem bringing the total number of participating companies to 118. The multi-stage startups selected for the Lab’s Fall Batch #8 hail from around the Globe and represent cutting-edge enterprise solutions in fields such as real-time logistics and tracking, robotics, private mobile network security and IoT enablement.

The Lab has established itself as an ecosystem leader since its inaugural Batch #1 launch in May 2020 becoming a destination for innovative global startups, technology platforms, integration, and enterprises. Since its inception, participating startups and alumni have raised a lifetime total of $2.088B with several exits valued at $200+M.