The Accelerator’s default policy regarding the Press is to try to get you individual coverage during the program via an exclusive with a publication. You are allowed to announce your involvement / acceptance into Alchemist as you like. Your involvement in Alchemist can be a hook for a story, and if you can get press coverage out of it, it can be helpful to get that sooner to drive customers / exposure /etc.
If you do announce your involvement in Alchemist before Demo Day, you may get early interest from institutional VCs. If you do, our advice is to meet with them no earlier than 3 weeks prior to your Demo Day -- or immediately after your Demo Day.
If you are in stealth / don’t want to attract attention, you do not need to reveal your involvement in the Accelerator until Demo Day (and even at the Demo Day we can ask any reporters to not disclose your involvement).
Announcing at Demo Day is better if you don’t need to reach customers via press, and just want to use the press coverage to maximize the punch to close funding. We will invite the press to the Demo to cover all the companies – and to help drive urgency to get the VC’s to act after the demo day, knowing that there is publicity around your company.
Your selection into the Accelerator / Your “Launch” at Demo Day may be a hook for a story – and we want to reserve that to get you coverage at Demo Day.
If you do announce it earlier, your involvement will no longer be news for a hook during the Demo Day – so please be vigilant about that, and know you may not get coverage you otherwise would have.