Series A Accelerator: First Edition (Video)

The road to Series A starts here. We’re proud to introduce the Catalyze Series A Accelerator, supporting leading deeptech ventures towards raising their next funding round and scaling with confidence. From April to June 2025, we welcomed our first cohort of four start-ups.

Raising a Series A is a critical milestone for Deeptech founders. It signals market confidence and investor belief in what’s truly breakthrough innovation. We created our invite-only Series A Accelerator, uniquely co-designed with VCs, to prepare and guide founders through every step of the fundraising cycle.

In the above video, our Investment Leads, Werner Fischer and Aditya Raj, share how we guided founders through the Series A programme.

You’ll also meet the startups in our first cohort:

• SEKAI – Automating Digital Twin creation with AI and dynamic knowledge graphs
• SilOriX – Enabling energy-efficient, ultra-fast optical communication for AI infrastructure
• Power Roll Ltd – Turning untapped surfaces into clean, low-cost solar energy generators
• AlixLabs – Cutting semiconductor costs in half while doubling chip performance

The programme included:

• Hands-on masterclasses with top VCs and experts.
• Mock pitches with direct investor feedback.
• Strategic support on product positioning, data room, and Series A readiness.
• Culminating in a VC Jury Demo Day, involving an inner circle of investor community.

Delivering the masterclasses and workshops were:

• Rhonda Shrader, Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Haas Entrepreneurship Program
• Chris Bush, Executive Director, Institute for Business Innovation, UC Berkeley
• Solomon Darwin, Executive Director, Garwood Center for Corporate Innovation, UC Berkeley
• Sanjib HomChaudhuri, Product Lead Google Global Network
• Moritz Müller, Associate, SET Ventures
• Samir Ahmad, Partner, DTE Capital Partners
• Freerk Bisschop, Partner, INVEN Capital

Thank you to all startups and speakers for making this a special first edition! Planning for our next edition is now underway.