Ibrahim Khaliliya

Harvard | Building Inner YC(S26)
@SecureWithInner

[Brent J. Smith @brentsmith1024]

And just like that…Keel 2.0 is over.

Last week, Keel hosted its second ever Demo Day, with 8 teams showcasing their ventures to a catered group of NYC investors, founders, and Keel alum. So far, 7 of those teams have launched seed rounds with millions committed already 🚀

Demo Day marked the end of Keel’s 10-week AI accelerator, where we backed and supported the most cracked founder community in NYC. 24/7 office, daily stand-ups, weekly office hours and speakers, and more. Keel is building the home for the top 0.1% of founders in the Northeast, and we’ve now done so two summers in a row.

NYC is a blossoming tech ecosystem, home to the second-most early-stage startups and capital in the world. But NYC’s startup infrastructure lags WAY behind, resulting in underserved, untapped potential. Keel is building the catalyst to recognize this potential — worldbuilding the next generation of genre-defining AI companies, right here in NYC.

And we’re just getting started. More to come on Keel’s Demo Day, Cohort 2.0, and what’s next 🤝

[Ibrahim Khaliliya @IKhaliliya]

@breakfast_nyc It’s cause I have no bugs in my code

[Ibrahim Khaliliya @IKhaliliya]

@brentsmith1024 🚀🚀🚀

[Brent J. Smith @brentsmith1024]

One of our teams wants to call their venture “Toad Warlock”

If this tweet gets 1K likes i’ll let them do it

[Brent J. Smith @brentsmith1024]

Introducing Keel Cohort 2.0.

4 weeks ago, I graduated from @Harvard. Today, I’m excited to announce Keel Cohort 2.0 — the premier early-stage AI accelerator in NYC.

This summer, we’re backing 12 AI teams — 20 founders from 10 top schools. We’re running a 9-week program in our beautiful @Convene office in midtown, partnering with dozens of NYC AI leaders and throwing the best venture events in NYC — like our welcome week boat party.

We believe the accelerator market is broken. Top founders should not dilute 7-10% at pre-seed in a virtual/hybrid accelerator. And we believe NYC will be home to some of the most important companies in the age of AI — and it’ll need a program like Keel to make that happen.

Thank you to Convene, Citizens Bank, Gunderson, all our amazing LPs, our 20+ NYC-based mentors, @nathanleexyz, and especially our founders for making this happen. Keel and the NYC startup ecosystem are here to stay and win because of you🚀

Keel Cohort 2.0 is happening now. If you’re a founder in NYC, DM me!