COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND IBM LAUNCHED 2 ACCELERATORS FOR BLOCKCHAIN STARTUPS

Columbia University and IBM announced two accelerator programs designed to help blockchain startups scale, IBM said in a press release on November 19.

Both programs will work on the basis of the new IBM innovation center opened in July in the Manhattan campus of Columbia University, which was created to improve the quality of development of decentralized applications and the formation of educational blockchain programs.

According to the press release, each program will support 10 startups, offering them a network of business mentors, technology support, access to the University’s talents and support of the “research community”, as well as IBM cloud resources.

The purpose of the programs is to help the network of creators to translate ideas into a “sustainable and scalable” blockchain business that will promote “meaningful blockchain application and increase efficiency in different industries.”

The first eight-week Columbia Blockchain Launch Accelerator program is aimed at startups at the idea stage, and the second IBM Blockchain Accelerator is designed to help participants at later stages. Each startup of the two programs will have access to technologies and services for $ 400,000, according to the creators of the program.

This semester, New York University (NYU) announced itself as the first US University to offer students cryptocurrency and blockchain education, and the University of Malta has allocated 300,000 euros for scholarships to students studying blockchain.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong University received $ 20 million for research on electronic payments and blockchain technologies, and Yale University became a full-fledged participant in the cryptocurrency market, having financed the Paradigm Fund specializing in digital asset management.