By Lexi Vance 

Epicenter and the Alchemist Accelerator are launching a new pre-accelerator program, called the Memphis Crucible. 

“Getting accepted by a top-tier accelerator such as Alchemist requires careful preparation,” Managing Director of Alchemist Accelerator’s Memphis Hub Ido Sarig said. 

This pre-accelerator program is designed to better instill a solid foundation for early-stage startups so that they can successfully apply to — the very competitive — Alchemist’s Memphis Hub. 

“Many founders have great ideas with a potential to scale, but early-stage companies often are still developing their business plan or market validation,” Sarig said. “Alchemist Accelerator seeks later-stage startups, so this program is designed to help early-stage founders make progress in such areas so their chances of acceptance significantly improve.”

The 8-week program is focused around the power of mentorship.

There are coaches — both local and from Silicon Valley — who are excited to impact a future generation of entrepreneurs. All coaches have had a distinguished career in entrepreneurship and/or in starting tech companies. 

“Our startup is scaling, and we’re making a lot of critical decisions throughout the process,” said Kontji Anthony, founder and CEO of Memphis-based Youdle, one of the first companies in the program. “We believe the coaching provided by Alchemist in partnership with Epicenter will help us make those decisions in a more informed, supported, and efficient way.”