Alpha Zone’s second class will benefit from an attractive and unique array of services, while everything participants develop in the program will remain entirely their own intellectual property.

Photo of Alpha Zone's first opening session in July of this year

IBM’s 24-week Alpha Zone accelerator program will open its second class in January 2014 at IBM Israel HQ. The registration period ends on November 20.

In this initiative, IBM is partnering with ZionTech Blue Initiatives, which aids early stage technology startups in finance and investing. Ultimately, the purpose of the joint venture is to develop disruptive enterprise solutions and help Israeli companies go to the global market.

The companies and technological projects that IBM selects for Alpha Zone’s second class will benefit from an attractive and unique array of services, while everything they develop in the program will remain entirely their own intellectual property.

Program details

Alpha Zone, which is now launching its second class, provides free use of IBM’s development tools and infrastructure cloud computing platform SoftLayer (all of which is worth around $24,000), as well as consulting services from IBM technology professionals, researchers, developers, and industry experts from Israel and around the world.

During the program, Alpha Zone participants will have the opportunity to present to venture capitalists, get assistance in submitting research plans to the Chief Scientist’s office, and receive help recruiting the best advisors for each company in legal, accounting, and intellectual property management. To do this, the program is partnering with industry leaders such as Bank Hapoalim, the Office of the Chief Scientist (in the Economic Ministry), accounting firm Ernst & Young, law firm FGC & Co, intellectual property law firm Ehrlich & Fenster, Inkod Hypera – a leader in UI and UX development, and Barry Katz’s company Networking, which develops companies’ messaging skills.

In addition to receiving pro bono assistance from the above companies, commercial venture partners such as 3M and Allianz provide access to their databases for companies with relevant solutions. This access serves as an additional channel for beta testing and ultimately, market penetration.

The Alpha Zone program helps Israeli companies expand their technology and establish long-term partnerships with IBM. Business activity in the accelerator works within the framework of IBM’s Global Technology Unit (GTU), whose goal is to connect the thriving hi-tech ecosystem in Israel with IBM on a global scale, generate joint revenue, and discover new partners for IBM. For more information about Alpha Zone in Israel, click here.

This post was sponsored by IBM Alpha Zone.