ConsenSys Ventures launches the Tachyon Accelerator program, starting Fall 2018.

Written collaboratively with Kavita Gupta, Annelie Chavez, and Natan Wise.

The Ethereum ecosystem is growing at a steep exponential. When ConsenSys was founded three and a half years ago, the pace seemed fast, but that period now feels like rocking on the porch and drinking cold lemonade on a lazy summer afternoon. Since 2009 — the inception of blockchain technology — we’ve seen many thousands of blockchain projects launched globally. Great projects have emerged as many of the world’s top technologists drive the evolution of blockchain and forge the onset of the decentralized future. This fall, ConsenSys is launching the Tachyon Accelerator to accelerate and synergize efforts to build out the blockchain ecosystem.

Tachyon Accelerator, a new flagship initiative of ConsenSys Ventures, was borne out of a desire to create a platform for great ideas to be identified and nourished and to enable them to grow quickly, perhaps faster than was possible before. Tachyon will be a cradle and launchpad for entrepreneurs and technical talent with strong backgrounds and great visions. Tachyon can provide guidance and fuel to nurture and propel these visions. The Tachyon program isn’t just an accelerator, it’s an 8-week deep immersion rocket launch, mashing up blockchain education with traditional startup acceleration, guided by many of the top technologists in the world.

The program draws on expertise from within the ConsenSys mesh. Projects will gain support from some of the pioneers of blockchain technology and a large swath of top Ethereum developers throughout the stack, along with brilliant mentors and advisors from the web 2.0 and web 3.0 worlds. The Tachyon Accelerator will be a program where projects and ideas are developed with targeted resources including advisors, office hours, and educational programming focused on blockchain. It will be a space for companies to learn new technology alongside proven best practices for product delivery.

ConsenSys, as a mesh of projects and companies, is constantly evolving. This program provides an insider’s view of what is happening within the ConsenSys mesh, where prospective collaborators can actively work to determine the most productive way to engage with ConsenSys’s ecosystem and resources. Experts across the ConsenSys mesh (to be introduced over the next few weeks), including various service circles like ConsenSys Labs and Token Foundry, will work alongside projects from inception through the MVP stage, and will help map next steps beyond the 8-week program. As a project or individual, Tachyon program participants will have the opportunity after the program to continue their projects, to start companies, or to work in synergy within the ConSensys mesh in some capacity. Our bet is that we can help hurl your project into orbit and help keep it accelerating.

To capture the needs of diverse and niche teams and products we are proud to offer three tracks: the Blockchain for Social Impact track, the Ethereum Project track, and an Open Source, blockchain-agnostic grant driven track.

The program will be based in San Francisco, culminating with a Demo Day on November 15th that will be open to external investors, strategic partners, and angel investors. The Tachyon Demo Day aims to become a flagship event for ConsenSys and ConsenSys Ventures. Demo Day will be an opportunity to learn more about ConsenSys and meet the Tachyon Accelerator companies.

We encourage those with ideas, early-stage products and dApps, and a passion for Ethereum to apply to Tachyon 2018. We look forward to reading your applications and to building the decentralized future together. Apply to Tachyon 2018 here.