Alchemist Chicago will support early-stage ventures across quantum, AI, cleantech, robotics, and other deep tech industries, transforming discovery into impact.
By The Alchemist Team
Meet the Inaugural Alchemist Chicago Cohort
Alchemist Accelerator and the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation are excited to announce the inaugural cohort of Alchemist Chicago, officially launching Phase 1 on October 20, 2025.
This first-of-its-kind collaboration brings Alchemist’s global accelerator platform to the Midwest’s deeptech hub, uniting world-class research, commercialization expertise, and investor networks to fuel deep tech innovation.
“Alchemist Chicago represents a defining moment for the region’s innovation landscape," says Samir Mayekar, Managing Director, Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. "Our partnership with Alchemist and additional recent collaborations and investments have created the ideal environment for startups to thrive here in the Midwest.”
From nearly 400 applicants, 27 startups were selected for their potential to advance transformative technologies across AI, Biotech, Cleantech, Data Analysis, and Quantum Computing.
The inaugural group reflects both breadth and diversity: founders hail from over 10 universities, including UChicago, Columbia, Georgia Tech, MIT, and Yale, and represent more than five countries. This global reach underscores the increasing gravitational pull of Chicago’s deeptech ecosystem—where cutting-edge research meets scalable industry opportunity.
“We received a record number of applications...an incredible testament to the growing momentum in Chicago’s innovation ecosystem. Even more exciting is the diversity of sectors represented, with startups spanning advanced materials, food and ag tech, biotech, and beyond,” said Shyama Majumdar, senior director, science accelerators and investments, Polsky Center.
During Phase 1, founders will spend seven weeks focusing on customer validation and early traction through sessions led by faculty from Alchemist and the University of Chicago. The program will culminate in Immersion Week (October 27–31, 2025) in Chicago, where startups will meet investors, mentors, and corporate partners.
Select startups will then advance to Phase 2 in Alchemist’s flagship accelerator beginning January 2026, gaining access to the network, structure, and capital that have helped more than 600 Alchemist alumni scale globally.
“In today’s noisy world, it’s inspiring to see distinctive deeptech founders pushing the boundaries of what’s possible—building science-driven solutions to real, persistent problems,” says Ian Bergman, Partner and Managing Director at Alchemist Accelerator. “We’re thrilled to partner with the Polsky Center to create new opportunities for these founders.”
Alchemist Chicago Cohort 1
ADDD analyzes offline customer behavioral data and offers the world's first AI-based effectiveness measurement solution for offline advertising.
Amplify Dynamics is pioneering ultrasound-powered filtration technology that transforms purification across industries.
AnharmoniQ is building the critical hardware backbone for large-scale quantum computing.
Aura Life Science turns pollution into value with a photosynthetic biomanufacturing platform that transforms CO2 into essential ingredients, materials, and medicines—slashing production costs while combating climate change.
Blisstech is an award-winning medical device company specializing in smart pressure ulcer prevention and patient monitoring systems.
Bluana Foods is an innovative company specializing in the production and distribution of plant-based sashimi-grade fish fillets with an innovative approach that centers on a high-moisture extrusion process using molecular gastronomy principles applied at an industrial scale.
EcoGrains develops patented waste-to-fuel biotechnology that helps airlines meet their net-zero goals by converting agricultural waste into sustainable aviation fuel, reducing emissions by up to 80%.
Etat’H Solide develops EcoFoam and EcoMold technologies that lightweight plastic parts by up to 40 % without losing strength.
Florence Quantum Labs unites the field of Quantum Biology and Quantum Information Science for breakthroughs in Bioagriculture, Drug Discovery, Bioremediation, and Biomaterials.
FuelWell Corp is a U.S.-based cleantech startup developing a patented retrofit technology that optimizes fuel combustion in internal combustion engines.
Hermetiq accelerates development cycles by providing intelligence for developers to debug builds.
K1 Semiconductor is a deep-tech company pioneering a semiconductor wafer-splitting platform technology that enhances the efficiency and economics of advanced chip manufacturing.
Legion Space is turning satellites into autonomous teammates by bringing the first "app store" for space, no ground stations needed.
Luce Labs is building the world’s first AI-powered precision agriculture platform designed for optimizing flavor.
Naycel is transforming America’s energy future by converting natural gas into two critical resources: battery-grade graphite and clean hydrogen — at a fraction of the energy cost of mining or synthetic production.
PeraWatt is an advanced materials startup developing next-generation magnetic materials to dramatically improve energy efficiency in power-hungry systems.
Popper Power transforms streetlights into smart, V2G-enabled EV chargers with battery storage and grid intelligence—providing cities and utilities affordable, scalable, and equitable curbside charging.
QDIR is enabling exquisite thermal sensing at the edge of battle and manufacturing by bringing F35 quality infrared sensors to small drones at small drone prices.
QodeX Quantum provides quantum-native AI models and a platform to train and deploy them at scale – faster, cheaper, and beyond classical limits.
Qoro Quantum develops the network stack for scalable, distributed quantum computing. With software that automates how quantum programs are prepared, optimized, and executed across heterogeneous hardware — from CPUs and GPUs to quantum processors — making it easy for researchers and enterprises to run quantum workloads efficiently at scale.
Qualz.ai transforms the way businesses understand their customers by offering a platform that uses AI to conduct in-depth interviews and analysis, providing companies with actionable insights within a week.
Quantum Research Sciences designs, develops, and delivers quantum software.
Quasi ai is radically accelerating CFD simulations by combining the power of Quantum Computing with Machine Learning, specifically leveraging Physics-Based AI models.
Slideflow Labs, a University of Chicago spinout, is an integrated hardware-software AI platform for hospitals, pharmas, and biotechs to develop precision oncology biomarkers.
SQK Inc. is a US–Canada–Korea deep-tech startup developing quantum–AI hybrid computing solutions for precision medical imaging and related applications.
ThunderGraph is building AI-native digital threads to facilitate engineering orchestration for complex projects in the physical world.
Uptempo Global's core strength is AI-driven localization for multilingual content across diverse formats—text, audio, video, and animation.
As part of the Polsky Center’s Alchemist Chicago initiative, the University of Chicago partnered with IBM to support the ecosystem of startups developing quantum software and algorithms for applications that could soon unlock quantum computing’s potential. The selected software startups will receive cloud access to IBM’s cutting-edge quantum computing resources, world-class technical expertise, and workshops, with the opportunity for venture funding from IBM.
The Polsky Center has also collaborated with the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) to help Korean startups enter the US market. As per the partnership, four KOSME startups were accepted into Alchemist Chicago: ADDD, Etat'H Solide, Uptempo Global Inc, and Blisstech.
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