UPDATE: Israeli tech news site Calcalist reported that Intel Ignite is closing down in November 2024.
For early-stage deep tech founders, securing a seed round on Sand Hill Road or gaining acceptance into a top accelerator is statistically harder than earning a diploma from MIT.
Startup schools like Y Combinator and 500 Global are considerably more selective than America’s top colleges and universities. According to YC, it typically accepts just 1.5% - 2% of the 10,000+ applications it receives for each six-month batch. Venture capital firms are even more diligent: Harlem Capital invests in ~1% of the deals it reviews each year.
Meanwhile, Caltech and Harvard are tied with a 3% acceptance rate, and Stanford’s is 4%.
Deal flow has dropped off over the last couple of years, but early-stage deep tech founders in AI and ML or sectors like mobility, robotics and semiconductors are still better off raising funds, seeking mentorship and connecting with potential customers via investors who aren’t expecting rapid growth and expansion.
After funding 5,142 deals at $174B in 2021, the global corporate venture capital market shrank to 3,545 deals at $55B, reports CB Insights. Tighter monetary policies and economic uncertainty has led CVCs to scale back, but there is some good news: early-stage deal share now accounts for 63% of all CVC-backed deals, up from 56% in 2021.
Because corporate VC looks for strategic plays that can accelerate their companies’ tech adoption and expand access to markets, they’re often more in alignment with deep tech startups. They also cast a wider net — while Y Combinator enrolls 1.5% of the applicants it receives, Intel Ignite is still highly selective, but has a 4% acceptance rate and a broader global reach, says VP and GM Tzahi Weisfeld.
In this episode, we discussed his program’s selection and evaluation process, the kind of team Intel Ignite wants to mentor, and how they help deep tech founders overcome common challenges like feature prioritization and hiring.
“We look at the size of opportunity for Intel to be engaged,” said Tzahi. “And for us to look at this as a relevant thing, we would want to see a major impact.”
Intel Ignite’s portfolio runs the gamut from HiAuto, which uses conversational AI to automate fast-food drive-thru orders, to Granulate, a real-time continuous optimization software startup that Intel later acquired. Granulate was in Intel Ignite’s inaugural class before collaborating with Intel on a proof-of-concept to optimize workloads for customers using Intel Xeon processors.
“An accelerator model is tough, because I think the financial model, it's not that great,” Tzahi said. “Strategically, a corporate accelerator could do really well, because he tries to solve for different things.”
Interested in more corporate venture capital insights? I’m interviewing two more CVCs this season: Kevin Weber (managing director, Amex Ventures) and Nicolas Sauvage, (president, TDK Ventures), so please subscribe to Fund/Build/Scale on your preferred podcast platform.
