YC, Alchemist, Gitex want robot startups!

Here's a collection of links to accelerators, competitions, demo days and more.

Apr 01, 2024

As well as calling for applications for the Summer Accelerator Intake (deadline April 22), YC has put out another RFS.

Occasionally we gather up all of these ideas and share them in what we call a Request for Startups, or RFS — a Y Combinator tradition that goes back over a decade. Here is our most recent RFS.

Alchemist Accelerator is also looking for startups for their enterprise (b2b) accelerator. It’s a top tier highly competitive program if you have the need for an enterprise network and are an ‘exceptional team, capable of interesting top tier venture funds, aiming to change the world’:

We are taking nominations for the next Alchemist class, and wanted to reach out if there were any stellar founders you’d recommend we consider. Deadlines are rolling, but the next one is April 12, 2024. As you know, we take your recommendations very seriously. We will fast track people for an interview based on your endorsement.

GITEX GLOBAL returns on 14 - 18 October 2024, Dubai - bigger, better, bolder.

How do you feel about demoing in Dubai? It just so happens to be at the exact time that IROS is in Abu Dhabi, only 1-2 hours away by car. I’ve been asked to help organize robotics startups for a track at Gitex (because the investors there love them), but I’m not sure if there’s enough interest from the robotics community.

Some other startup calls - buyer beware - I have not vetted all of these opportunities.

DriftX Mobility - Abu Dhabi - event April 25-26

Ocean Accelerator Class - deadline April 1

Pitch at Med Device Symposium - deadline April 1

Grit International PreAccelerator (Ireland) - deadline April 5

Pitch at AgTech Symposium - deadline April 21

Extreme Tech Challenge’s Global Deep Tech Startup Competition - deadline April 22

Next Fab Ventures - Hard-Tech Investors - Product Development - deadline April 30

AlphaLab Pittsburgh - deadline April 30

Rally Sea Summer - deadline May 26

Science and Startups (Europe) - deadline May 30

Zip Launchpad - deadline May 30

Call for Startups in Robotics for H-Farm (Italy) - deadline Jun 30

Huawei Spark Program (Hong Kong) - open deadline

Scale Up US - doing business with the Federal Govt - Incubator, Accelerator, Courses.

Lightspeed Launch - Program and VC

K2 Capital Partners - Mixed Funding

Angel Capital - Rockies Venture Club

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My thoughts on popular early stage startup calls

The longer I’m in Silicon Valley, the more it looks like a combination of creating entertainment, money laundering or ponzi schemes. Literally the definition of the venture capital industry is selling your stakes/shares on the upswing, before value drops, as it 99% of the time does down the track.

Requirements for this to work:

Reputation/Publicity: Big name investors with track record
Excitement: Shiny new exotic startup
FOMO: Everyone else dreaming of the next big $$$ opportunity

End result:

Profit: for big name investors
Loss: for partners downstream unless they also got out fast and almost all FOMO investors, particularly small stakeholders
Just enough lucky stories to keep the flywheel spinning
And uninvestable or zombie startups three years later trying to find a path forward.

I’ve just discovered/described the Greater Fools Investment Theory! Here are two better summaries - traditional - and historical

And yet we persist with the goal of creating companies that matter and that will have a positive impact in the world!

Venture Capital Term Sheet Guide 2024 📄 [HSBC] via The VCCorner

Did you just switch to a paid subscription? Thank you! It makes you an angel investor in the work I do at Silicon Valley Robotics as a startup advisor, and accelerator. If you are a robotics company, March is a great time to join Silicon Valley Robotics and our startup accelerator program.

Robotics News:

Autonomous robots help farmers prepare for world’s largest tulip bloom - Popular Science

Open Source Robotics Alliance strengthens open-source software projects - The Robot Report

LG and Samsung accelerate robotics investments, eye commercial and home markets - DigiTimesAsia

Study Finds Invisible Human Work Allows Robots To Deliver - Eurasia Review (Best Paper at HRI 2024)

Scythe Robotics launches expanded production facility - Total Landscape News

Understanding Humanoid Robots - Brian Heater in TechCrunch

Boutique startup studio super{set} gets another $90 million to co-found data and AI companies - TechCrunch

Matter Venture Partners raises $300M first fund to invest in ‘hard tech’ - TechCrunch

NASA Viper Moon Rover Team Raises Its Mighty Mast - NASA

The Small Business Project: Wearable robots to keep staff safe - The Post NZ

A replacement for traditional motors could enhance next-gen robots - Stanford News

A collective AI via lifelong learning and sharing at the edge - Nature Machine Intelligence

Robotics News - IEEE Spectrum

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Announcing the winners of Women in Robotics inaugural Joanne Pransky Scholarship! Three talented young people getting a little bit of help in their college journey towards a career in robotics (or closely related technology)!