Alchemist Accelerator closes $2.5 million to back enterprise tech startups

Alchemist Accelerator closes $2.5 million to back enterprise tech startups. The Alchemist Accelerator has closed a $2.5 million fund for very early stage investments in tech startups serving large organizations in an era when robotics, artificial intelligence and the internet of things are fundamentally changing the way they operate. Fourteen Alchemist alumni have also been acquired, Belani said. In 2016, for example, GE acquired Wise.IO for machine learning expertise, Etsy acquired Blackbird to bring image recognition and natural language processing to search on its marketplace, and Cisco acquired Synata, whose products allow users to search cloud-based and on-premise repositories at once. Belani said the accelerator has been working with a greater number of startups per class as it grows. There is a mesh between bits and atoms.” The program now admits 17 startups per class, and invests about $36,000 in early stage funding in each. In the past, so-called deep tech or hardware companies had a hard time attracting venture capital because they were seen as too capital intensive. The attitude has changed as things like heads up displays, self-driving vehicles, drones and robotics look less like sci-fi and more like an eventuality at work. Alchemist has also appointed Ash Rust as a partner with the closing of its new fund. Featured Image: a-image/Shutterstock