EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Amazon and Techstars team up to launch the Alexa Accelerator program
Amazon.com Inc. and tech startup accelerator TechStars have joined forces to launch the Alexa Accelerator, a new accelerator to support early-stage startups building services for Amazon’s artificial intelligence platform.
Run in partnership with Amazon’s Alexa fund, the Alexa Accelerator will focus on startups building voice-powered tech, interfaces and applications in Alexa domains including connected home, wearables and hearables, enterprise, communication devices, connected car and health and wellness.
The accelerator program will take place at the University of Washington in Seattle and involve an intensive 13-week program. Startup founders will be matched with mentors from Amazon and Techstars to develop their technologies and business models.
Those participating in the program will be selected through a rigorous review process, with each startup accepted being funded $20,000 in return for a small equity stake in the company, with the potential of obtaining $100,000 convertible note at the end of the program.
“The accelerator is the first of its kind at Amazon and another initiative from the Alexa Fund to champion builders, developers, and entrepreneurs innovating with voice technology,” Amazon Vice President Worldwide Corporate Development Douglas Booms said in an announcement post.
The new accelerator is an expansion by Amazon’s Alexa Fund, which has already invested in 22 companies in the space, including Owlet Baby Care Nucleus, Thalmic Labs, DefinedCrowd, ecobee and others.
According to Booms, who spoke to TechCrunch, the new accelerator isn’t designed to be a feeder for the Alexa Fund nor to be a new step for teams competing for the Alexa Prize, but is more open-ended at this point with no formal constraints on what sort of startups will be welcome.
Applications for the accelerator program open in January 2017, with the first run of the 13-week course to be held in July and a demo day for investors to view company presentations scheduled to be held in October.
Image credit: bouldair/Flickr/CC by 2.0
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