Accelerator program Zeroth wants to find Asia’s top AI and machine learning startups – TechCrunch

Zerothis an accelerator program that is out to fix the lack of talent, and investment options, for artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia, and it has just opened applications for its second program which takes place in Hong Kong in late July.

Theres almost nothing that wont be touched by AI,high-profile investor and former Google China head Kaifu Lee said at our most recent China event. And yet, Asias biggest firms still lag their U.S. peers on AI.

Things aremoving in the right direction but seemingly for a select few.Didi Chuxing recently set up a U.S.-based lab, but it appears some way behind Google and Uber. Even then,retaining talent is tough.The recent departure of Andrew Ng, who led Baidus research lab in the U.S., has highlighted the struggle that Chinas (Asias) biggest firms have in hiring and retain top talent in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning.

Tak Lo, founding partner ofZeroth, left his role at early-stage venture firm Mind Fund to start the project in 2015, which is Asias first dedicated AI and machine learning accelerator program.

Itwasnt that there wasnt enough talent,there just arent many investors [in the Asia region] focused on artificial intelligence, said Lo, whose past projects have included Tech City in London, the SPH Plug and Play programin Singapore and a stint in the U.S. armed forces.

The idea is to take 20 companies per batch, withZeroth offering up to $120,000 in optional funding. Thats a slightly different approach to its inaugural batch, which took in 10 companies and offered each six percent equity in exchange for$20,000.

The program is pretty industry agnostic, and Lo said his preference is to work with early stage companies because thats where he feels the program can have the most influence.

Our mission isnt that all companiesshould have AI, but everyone to be able to develop in this tech, he said. We want it to be in thehands of many not just a few.

Particular areas of focus include edge computing, natural language, autonomous vehicles, agritech, human-machine interface technology and ethical computing. Its first cohort includes a diverse range of startups from chatbots (Clareand Botimize), to deep-learning-powered recognition (DT42), social media marketing (Rocco) and crop disease diagnosis (Sero).

Beyond a standard demo day, the event was live-streamed to selected investors inSeoul, Beijing, Tokyo and Singapore.

We figured it was the best way to build community and trust in these companies. Ithink it worked pretty well as an overall experiment, Lo said. Thecompanies are fundraising, we view investor day as the kick off.

The firstZeroth program was locatedin Hong Kong, but it has temporaryrelocated to Japan before the next program opens in Hong Kong. In Tokyo, Lo is keen to recruit venture firms, corporate partners and, of course, founders. Already,Mind Fund invested directly in the program, while others, such as 500 Startups, are closely involved.

Theres anamount of patient capital here and the liking of deeper tech is a big pro, Lo said. Where else we go will be dictated on market conditions and where we are after this cohort.

A number of regionally-focused accelerator programs struggled to make the grade as a business and shut up shop over the past year. Lo is candid that, for now, theres no business model set in stone for Zeroth.

Werestill trying to figure it out, but the AI focus is one because AI is hot but also potentially acquisitive. he said. Companies realize this is the next thing. One hypothesis is that M&A deals could provide short term cash flow, while another option is working with funds that are a little more long term.

Zeroth partner Tak Lo

On the mentoring side, Lo saidZeroths advisors have created more than $1.7bbillion in AI company value. Among themis Antoine Blondeau, who worked on theprecursor to what became now Apple-owned Siri and whoseSentient.ai startup is the worlds most funded AI company.

The othersare Hajime Hotta, whosold mobile ad firm Citrius Technologies to Yahoo Japan, Skype and Kazaa co-founderJaan Tallinn, Bangalore-based Sachin Unni, Alexandre Winter (who sold Placemeter to Netgear), early-stage investorTakahiro Shoji, Techstars Eamonn Carey, and investorNathan Benaich.

Lo said the focus on AI has been validated by similar strategies from Y Combinator, which recently announced a dedicated AI track, and others who have been increasing their interest in the space.

Were proud of the fact we are first, we took a bet and realized this would be good, he said. We may be ahead of these guys and they are more established.

Zeroths second batch is due to start in late July. Applications are open now until June 15, more details and the form can be found on the website.

Update: The original version of this article has been updated to correct that Zeroth is temporarily relocating to Tokyo but the next program will be held in Hong Kong.

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Accelerator program Zeroth wants to find Asia's top AI and machine learning startups - TechCrunch