A diverse group of companies pitched their offerings at Alchemist Accelerators' latest Demo Day Tuesday.
Among the 20 startups were ones working on biodegradable plastics for feminine hygiene products, a community service for influencers looking to interact with their fans, and recruiting service for companies looking to find the next star software coders while they're still in high school.
The companies that were members of the accelerator's' 29th class are all mission-driven, Managing Partner Ravi Belani said at the virtual event. That's important, because mission-driven founders are the ones that change the world and generate outstanding financial returns, he said.
"They are all founders (who) are doing what they were meant to do in life," Belani said.
Based in Palo Alto, Alchemist focuses on seed-stage companies whose customers are enterprises, rather than consumers. It offers a six-month program that primarily caters to teams with technical founders. The accelerator's network of mentors, customer advisers, investors and partners has grown to more than 17,000 individuals since its founding in 2012.
Tuesday's virtual Demo Day was the fifth Alchemist has held since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Among the 20 companies it featured were five from the Bay Area:
Portals
- Headquarters: Palo Alto
- Product: Community hosting and social networking service for influencers and creators
- Founders: Usman Hanif, Eric Zhou, Caleb Finn
- Description: Portals' service is targeted at influencers and creators — people with lots of fans. The service allows creators to create an online community where they can interact with their fans and their fans can interact with other. Creators can also sell their merchandise through the service. (Co-founders Usman Hanif and Eric Zhou were featured in last year's Inno Under 25 segment.)
Slingshot
- Headquarters: Santa Clara
- Product: Recruiting service for companies looking to hire teen tech workers
- Founders: Akshat Prakas, Krishna Dave
- Description: Slingshot has created a database of young tech workers across the globe and helps companies recruit and hire them.
Tellus Technologies
- Headquarters: San Jose
- Product: Plant-based bioplastics for feminine products
- Founders: Manisha Mohan, Daniel Fitzgerald
- Description: Tellus makes flushable sanitary pads made from bioplastics that degrade far more quickly than traditional disposable ones.
Watts Battery
- Headquarters: Palo Alto
- Product: Solar power battery system for homes
- Founders: Yuri Vlasov, Andreas Procopiou, Mike DoKuchaev
- Description: Watts has developed an easy-to-install battery system for solar-powered homes. Three of its battery units can power a single home. The company already has 150 solar company customers, with 345 more companies on the waiting list.
Wilab
- Headquarters: Woodside
- Product: Data analysis for 5G networks
- Founders: Tomas Achaval, Martin Ferreyra, Javier Roberts, Emeric Ureel
- Description: Wilab's software helps companies including Cisco Systems Inc. and AT&T Inc. analyze their networks to predict Internet outages.
