Backing the Alchemist

August 25, 2014
Ashu Garg

I am excited to share that Foundation Capital has decided to back the fantastic work being done over at the Alchemist Accelerator. We share the same values around nurturing promising startups in their early stages, and look forward to being active participants in their program. Programs like the one offered at the Alchemist play a big part in encouraging innovation in the valley, and we’re happy to support them.

Below find the full press release:

THE ALCHEMIST ACCELERATOR ADDS FOUNDATION CAPITAL AS NEW BACKER

Alchemist, an Accelerator Dedicated to Enterprise Startups, Welcomes Foundation Capital to its List of Investors

San Francisco, Calif., August 25, 2014 – Foundation Capital has joined Cisco, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Khosla Ventures, Salesforce.com, SAP Ventures, and US Venture Partners, as a backer of the Alchemist Accelerator, it was announced today. The amount of the investment is not being disclosed.

Foundation Capital is an investment firm that builds great companies. It invests in startups in their early stages with a very hands-on approach, much like Alchemist does. “We like that the program is structured around customer development, sales, and fundraising. These pillars form a good foundation for building successful businesses, and that’s what ultimately makes a company more appealing when we look to invest,” says Ashu Garg, General Partner at Foundation Capital. “Alchemist not only finds exciting ideas, but also great teams to go along with them.”

The Alchemist Accelerator is a six-month program, accepting 13 companies every four months. On average, the companies that are accepted receive $28,000 in seed funding. As part of the program, Alchemist founders are mentored by a large network of high caliber experts and coaches. Gary Swart, former CEO of oDesk, and Mike Olsen, CEO of Cloudera were recently added to this group.

More than half of Alchemist companies go on to raise institutional funds from some of the top venture capital firms in the valley. The list now includes Foundation Capital, in addition to Andreessen Horowitz, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Founders Fund, Greylock Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Storm Ventures, and True Ventures.

“Foundation Capital is more than just a venture capital firm,” says Ravi Belani, Managing Director of Alchemist. “All of Foundation’s partners have been entrepreneurs, which brings a refreshing dose of perspective to the table when they work with our founders. We are happy to have them on our side.”

On September 25, 2014, Alchemist will host their Class Seven Demo Day at Citrix in Santa Clara, where over 200 customers, partners, and investors will join to see what new ideas are coming out of the accelerator.

Learn More: Anyone interested in getting involved as a mentor, investor or customer or members of the press, should fill out this form:https://influencerseries.wufoo.com/forms/alchemist-accelerator-individual-registration/.

For more information on the accelerator, please visit the website: https://www.alchemistaccelerator.com/.