Demo Day 2024 with our Blockchain Innovation Forum

April 12, 2024 in Berkeley

Join us in-person in Berkeley or virtually to explore the latest trends & exciting startups and discuss what's next.

For the industry, academia and founders, the Blockchain Innovation Forum on April 12th, hosted by Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator and Blockchain at Berkeley, with support from Berkeley RDI, and planned in connection with the Funding the Commons SF Bay Area event on April 13-14th, invites thought leaders, educators & innovators to share insights with our large Berkeley and broader community.

April 12th will include leaders from Berkeley faculty, technology leaders and founders from Protocol Labs, Aptos, Circle, plus VC firms including Electric Capital, Theory Ventures, Franklin Templeton. April 13-14th includes leaders from NEAR AI, Optimism RPGF, Gitcoin, Linux Foundation, and more. 

The Forum highlights our annual Xcelerator Demo Day for the 2024 7th cohort. Our Xcelerator has worked with 110 global teams since 2019 that have raised $650+M in follow-on funding!

Blockchain Innovation Forum Speakers on April 12

Juan Benet

Founder & CEO, Protocol Labs

Avery Ching

Co-Founder, CTO, Aptos

Jeremy Clover

VP Engineering, Circle

Mahdi Zamani

Head of Crypto Solutions, Visa

Avichal Garg

Managing Partner, Electric Capital

Dan Robinson

GP & Head of Research, Paradigm

Catherine Gu

Head of CBDC and Tokenization, Visa

Kevin Farrelly

Managing Principal, Director of Digital Assets, Franklin Templeton

Christine Parlour

Berkeley RDI, Professor, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Dawn Song

Berkeley RDI, Professor, UC Berkeley Engineering

Spencer Farrar

Partner, Theory Ventures

Jason Levy

Co-Founder, Story Protocol

Michelle Munson

CEO, Co-Founder, Eluv.io

Chetan Nandakumar

Head of Product, Gensyn

Event Agenda

  • 1:30-1:40pm Welcome & Introduction to Xcelerator, Berkeley RDI, Blockchain at Berkeley 

  • 1:40-2:10pm Technology Frontiers in Blockchain (Recording Link)

    • ​Prof. Dawn Song, CS, Berkeley Engineering

    • ​Avery Ching, CTO & Co-Founder, Aptos

    • ​Jeremy Clover, VP Engineering, Circle

    • ​Mahdi Zamani, Head of Crypto Solutions, Visa

  • 2:10-2:35pm Blockchain Innovation in Traditional Finance (Recording Link)

    • ​Prof. Christine Parlour, UC Berkeley, Haas Business School of Business

    • ​Kevin Farrelly, Managing Principal, Director of Digital Assets, Franklin Templeton

    • ​Catherine Gu, Head of CBDC and Tokenization, Visa

  • 3:00-3:10pm Break

  • 3:10-3:35pm Lens to the Future of Blockchains (Recording Link)

    • ​Prof. Dawn Song, CS, Berkeley Engineering

    • ​Avichal Garg, MP, Electric Capital

    • ​Dan Robinson, General Partner & Head of Research, Paradigm

  • 3:40-4:00pm Keynote (Recording Link)

    • ​Juan Benet, Founder & CEO, Protocol Labs

  • 4:00-4:20pm Emerging Landscape in Blockchain (Recording Link)

    • ​Spencer Farrar, Partner, Theory Ventures

    • ​Jason Levy, Co-Founder, Story Protocol

    • ​Michelle Munson, CEO & Co-Founder, Eluv.io

    • ​Chetan Nandakumar, Head of Product, Gensyn

  • 4:25-5:00pm Blockchain Xcelerator Demo Day Presentations (Recording Link) & Berkeley Blockchain Project Spotlight (Recording Link)

  • 5:00-5:10pm Berkeley RDI Frontier Research Fellows Lightning Talks (Recording Link)

  • 5:10-6:00pm Expo & Networking - Tabling by Xcelerator Teams, Sponsors for Devs & Talent

Date and Venue

April 12th, 1-6pm at David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

 

COHORT 7

2024 Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Teams Presenting on April 12

2024 COHORT

Cohort 7

The AI-Powered Robo-Advisory Making Web3 Investing Accessible to Everyone

Belong is the most Web2-friendly token-gating solution for communities, events, and content feeds

Coophive

CoopHive is the coordination layer for decentralized intelligence and the decentralized future

Revolutionizing AI with a global computing network for affordable GPUs

Giza is a machine learning (ML) platform that enables verifiable ML inference at scale

Programmable Data Composability for Trustless Data Primitives

We build the digital infrastructure for the Circular Economy

Crypto ramps App in Central America for cross-border remittances & payments

A cryptographic technology provider focusing on Web3 infrastructures

Sidechain is the first onchain commerce (ocommerce) marketplace