Colosseum2026-10-15 00:27:02Jakub Rusiecki joins Colosseum as principalJakub Rusiecki, founder of Social Graph Ventures, said in a post on X that he has joined Colosseum as a principal. He said he first met Clay Robbins in January 2024, when Colosseum was getting off the ground and preparing to raise its first fund. Since then, Rusiecki said he had been tracking Robbins, Matty Tay and Nate Levine as the team worked to turn Solana hackathons into a company incubation pipeline. Over the past year, he said the two sides repeatedly backed the same early-stage projects and found themselves aligned on investment judgment at the earliest stages. Rusiecki also argued that much of crypto venture capital is now concentrated in later rounds, while many of the next wave of companies begin as two-person teams or hackathon projects, often before a typical fund would invest. He said Colosseum brings in developers through hackathons, supports founders from the idea stage through its accelerator, and uses its fund to keep backing breakout teams from the accelerator as well as other companies. In the new role, Rusiecki said he will review hackathon submissions and plans to attend Breakpoint in London.210
Hong Kong2026-10-14 07:29:04Hong Kong gives in-principle backing to first nine innovation accelerator projectsHong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Commission said the assessment committee for the Innovation and Technology Accelerator Pilot Scheme has given in-principle support to nine applications. The selected cases involve organizations including Jinggangshen Innovation Technology Accelerator Co., Ltd., China Outbound Accelerator Limited, and China Resources Modern Services (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. According to the announcement, the selected institutions have networks and resources across artificial intelligence, robotics, biomedicine, new energy, and new materials, and will provide services such as shared space, research and development support, and market expansion for innovation and technology companies. The scheme is designed to attract professional innovation and technology enterprise service providers from Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas to establish accelerator bases in the city. The government will provide funding on a 1:2 matching basis, with a ceiling of HK$30 million and a project period of up to three years. Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said the government will continue to improve the city’s innovation and technology ecosystem and support Hong Kong’s development into an international innovation and technology center.330
Base2026-10-01 18:01:40Base names 10 teams for fourth accelerator batch after 750-plus applicationsBase, the Layer2 network backed by Coinbase, has released the selected teams for Base Batches 004, the fourth cohort of its accelerator program. According to the official announcement, more than 750 teams applied in this round. Out of that pool, 10 teams were chosen for the batch. The update centers on the latest intake for the Base accelerator and does not include additional details on the selected projects in the source material. The announcement highlights the scale of interest in the program, with applications exceeding 750, while confirming the final number of accepted teams at 10. No further information on timing beyond the announcement itself, selection criteria, or project names was provided in the input.620
Cardano Found2026-09-29 10:25:30Cardano Foundation signs multi-year blockchain education partnership with UCLA AndersonCardano Foundation said it has entered a multi-year partnership with the Venture Accelerator at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Starting in 2027, educational content from Cardano Academy will be incorporated into UCLA courses related to blockchain. The two sides also plan to jointly offer coursework covering blockchain, AI agents, and Web3 applications. The partnership extends beyond the classroom. Under the arrangement, five Cardano Fellowship slots will be created within the UCLA Accelerate Program. Selected early-stage companies will receive funding, mentorship, and support from the Cardano ecosystem, while also exploring product development on Cardano. Cardano Foundation will also sponsor the 2027 UCLA Draper Innovation Showcase. The update was published by Techub, which cited Wu Blockchain as the source.390
Alliance2026-09-11 07:26:42Alliance opens applications for ALL19, offering up to $400,000 per teamCrypto and fintech accelerator Alliance has opened applications for its ALL19 program, according to a post the firm published on X. The application window will remain open for 14 days. Alliance said this cohort is aimed at "non-traditional" founders and that it plans to invest in 20 teams. Each selected team can receive funding of up to $400,000. The announcement outlines the basic terms of the new intake and identifies the target founder group, the duration of the application period, the number of teams Alliance plans to back, and the maximum amount available to each team.940
Tim Draper2026-08-25 19:11:23Tim Draper backs a DeFi accelerator for the Cardano ecosystemTechub News, citing U.Today, said billionaire investor Tim Draper is backing a new accelerator aimed at turning Cardano-based startups into investable companies. The program focuses on DeFi. No further details were disclosed in the report.540
YZi Labs2026-08-14 16:29:25YZi Labs launches EASY Residency Season 5 with up to $500,000 for selected startupsYZi Labs has opened applications for EASY Residency Season 5, a 10-week accelerator program aimed at early-stage innovation teams. The program is split into a five-week online phase followed by a five-week in-person residency in Thailand, ending with a Demo Day. According to the announcement, accommodation, meals and workspace will be fully covered so founders can focus on building. YZi Labs said its priority areas for this cohort include programmable capital and on-chain markets, stablecoin payment infrastructure, compute and trusted agent systems, embodied AI, emerging AI interfaces, and AI × Bio. Selected projects can receive up to $500,000 in funding, including a $150,000 SAFE for 5% equity and an additional $350,000 uncapped SAFE. Teams may also be considered for as much as $2 million in additional investment. The application deadline is Sept. 13 at 23:59 GMT-7.1600
AppWorks2026-07-26 13:34:00Lin Chih-chen says AppWorks’ first fund backers came through MR JAMIE, not family connectionsAppWorks founder Lin Chih-chen has pushed back on the view that the startup accelerator’s rise was built on his family background. In a recent post, Lin said the only business meeting he secured through his father’s connections during AppWorks’ founding period was with Acer co-founder Stan Shih, and that meeting brought no investment. Instead, Shih told him the model would not succeed in Taiwan. Lin said AppWorks later proved otherwise, with the firm becoming one of Taiwan’s best-known startup accelerators and going on to raise multiple venture funds with assets under management exceeding NT$10 billion. Lin argued that the four major institutional shareholders in AppWorks Fund I — China Development-related H&Q, Cathay Life, Phison Electronics, and United Daily News Group — were not introduced through his family. He traced all four relationships back, directly or indirectly, to the network he built through his MR JAMIE blog, startup events, accelerator activities, and the broader entrepreneur community. Fund I, formally Ben Sun Venture Capital Co., Ltd., was established in 2012 with initial capital of NT$300 million. His account details how each investor came in through a different path: H&Q saw AppWorks as an early pipeline for software startups, Cathay Life arrived through a chain that began with an email interview request from a Singapore exchange student, Phison invested after a book-promotion interview with founder Pua Khein-Seng, and United Daily News Group joined as it searched for e-commerce and new media opportunities.2260
