Intel shutting down startup accelerator Ignite amid massive cuts
Ignite is set to officially close in November, with the ninth and final cohort getting underway this past May.
Intel is expected to close the Intel Ignite global startup acceleration program in November, Calcalist has learned. The global program was established and managed from Israel five years ago by Tzachi Weisfeld, a Vice President at Intel. In 2022, Alon Leibovich was appointed Managing Director of Intel Ignite Tel Aviv, while Weisfeld continued managing the global program, which also expanded to the U.S. and Europe.
Among the Israeli companies that participated in the program are Deci, which was sold to Nvidia; Flow Security, acquired by CrowdStrike; Qwak, sold to JFrog; Granulate, acquired by Intel; Speedb, sold to Redis; Helios, acquired by Snyk; and Oxeye, sold to GitLab.
Ignite launched its ninth and now final cohort in May, with ten companies accepted into each cohort.
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Earlier this week, Calcalist revealed that the early retirement application program at Intel has been closed, with high demand reported in Israel. The closure of Ignite is part of Intel’s extensive global cost-cutting initiative aimed at saving $10 billion, which also includes layoffs and the retirement of approximately 15,000 employees.
Since the Intel Ignite program launched in 2019, the 176 participating companies have raised over $2.5 billion in funding. The 12-week program focuses on all aspects critical to the success of early-stage startups.
