Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Joins Berkeley RDI to Strengthen Blockchain Programs
In 2019, the UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET) launched the Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator in partnership with the Haas School of Business Blockchain Initiative and Blockchain at Berkeley. The goal of the new accelerator was to help entrepreneurs from around the world pursue ventures in the blockchain space, tap into the vast resources of UC Berkeley and Silicon Valley, and receive expert industry guidance to create high-value blockchain startups.
“SCET has truly built the foundation of the innovation ecosystem at Berkeley and played a major role in launching the Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator to make it what it is today,” says Jocelyn Weber, Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Founding Director. “We are excited to be able to reach a stage of maturity that we graduate from SCET and join forces with Berkeley RDI to create a recognizable, leading force for research, education and innovation in blockchain and Web3 at the University of California, Berkeley.”
Since its founding, the Xcelerator has lived up to its promise and so far has hosted five cohorts boasting an impressive portfolio of 85 teams that have participated in its program. Teams participating in the Blockchain Xcelerator program have since raised more than $450 million of follow-on funding. The Xcelerator will now join the campus-wide, multidisciplinary Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI), and act as the third pillar of RDI for community/entrepreneurship, along with the pillars of research and education. UC Berkeley was again ranked for the second year in a row the #1 university in the US for blockchain this fall; Berkeley RDI will only further Berkeley’s mission of advancing the greater good in this emerging sector..
SCET has helped launch many programs and centers at Berkeley, including Berkeley SkyDeck, the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership, Blockchain at Berkeley, and The House Fund. SCET and the Xcelerator will continue to partner on blockchain initiatives in order to help Berkeley students and innovators connect with Berkeley and create impactful innovations in the blockchain and Web3 industry.
About Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology
The Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology is the premier institution on the UC Berkeley campus for the study and practice of “technology-centric” entrepreneurship and innovation. Since 2005, SCET has created the foundation of Berkeley’s entrepreneurship ecosystem including SkyDeck, the Fung Institute, the Engineering Leadership Professional Program, Global Venture Lab, and an extensive ecosystem of Silicon Valley and Global partners.
About the Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI)
The Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI) is a new multi-disciplinary, campus-wide initiative, focusing on advancing the science and technology of web3, decentralization, and decentralized intelligence, to make it universally accessible and empower a responsible digital economy.. The RDI Center currently includes faculty, researchers and students from computer science, finance/economics, and law, and will work across 3 pillars: research, education, and community / entrepreneurship.
About the Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator
The Xcelerator was launched in January 2019 as a joint venture between Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, SCET of Berkeley Engineering, and Blockchain at Berkeley. Since then the Xcelerator has accelerated 85 companies that have raised a total of $450M+ in follow-on funding and has now become the 3rd pillar of Berkeley RDI, fulfilling RDI’s mission around community and entrepreneurship. More than 60% of our teams have raised follow-on funding, making the Xcelerator one of the best university-based, non-dilutive blockchain accelerators in the world.