Haxlr8r Is Looking For A Few Good Hardware Start-Ups To Be Close To The Action

Cyril Ebersweiler has launched one of the coolest incubators I’ve seen in a while. Based in Dalian, China, the incubator has already run one group through the ringer, and now they’re looking for hardware hackers to join them in their second round. This time, however, they’re doing it up nice.

The organization has just launched a new website, Haxlr8r.com, and they brought in a new program director, Zach Hoeken of Makerbot fame. They’ve grabbed some great mentors including a young man named Nolan Bushnell who, if I’m understanding this correctly, invented freaking coin-op video games, and Bunnie Huang.

The accelerator runs for 111 days and is based in Shenzhen and the Valley. Teams will have access to prototyping hardware, including laser cutters, 3D printers, and the like. Chosen groups get $25,000 in funding and are required to live in Shenzhen for the duration of the program.

Ebersweiler writes:

The goal of the program is simple: create a working, scalable prototype and find a manufacturing partner ready to produce it before going home to
launch. Each week, startups will meet with mentors and work on the team’s concepts and prototypes. Mentors will provide valuable insights in
terms of manufacturing, supply chain management, distribution, marketing or fundraising. Last year, 9 teams participated including Nomiku, which went straight from an idea to production in three months and sold hundreds of thousands dollars worth of products since.

While SF is the center of the web services universe, Shenzhen looks to be the center of the hardware universe, and this looks like a great way to get right to the heart of it.