SensorHound Innovations LLC, a high-tech startup based in the Purdue Research Park, has been chosen to participate in the next class of the Alchemist Accelerator's IoT track beginning Thursday (Aug. 21).

The San Francisco-based Alchemist Accelerator's program is designed to assist startups whose revenue comes from enterprises, not consumers. Supporters of the program include Cisco Systems, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Khosla Ventures, Salesforce.com, SAP Ventures and US Venture Partners. It is managed by Ravi Belani, the Fenwick and West Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at Stanford University.

"We are looking for startups that can provide solutions for ensuring reliable and secure Internet of Things (IoT). SensorHound fits that model because their technology could play a crucial technical role in the future IoT as well as has tremendous commercial potential," Belani said. "In fact, the Alchemist Accelerator has already invested $50,000 in SensorHound."

SensorHound Innovations is developing software products that could reduce the cost of developing and operating networked embedded systems. These systems act as sensors, gathering data from an environment and sharing it electronically.

The company's software solutions are based on research from Purdue University's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Computer Science. SensorHound was founded by Vinai Sundaram, who earned his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at Purdue; Patrick Eugster, a Purdue associate professor of computer science; and Matthew Tan Creti, who is earning his doctorate at the university.

"We are honored to be part of the prestigious Alchemist Accelerator class," Sundaram said. "Their guidance will help us further develop our technology to monitor and verify large networked sensor systems at runtime and enable users to react quickly to identify and correct anomalies before a potential breakdown occurs."

Eugster added sensors being developed by SensorHound may be used to control the power grid and other systems. Improving how the systems communicate could diminish events like power outages.

SensorHound Innovations also has received a $150,000 SBIR Phase I grant from the NSF, assistance from the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurial initiative managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, and used office space in the Anvil, a student-operated, co-working space for entrepreneurs that opened in 2013.

The Foundry, which also opened in 2013, provides Purdue innovators with entrepreneurial resources to support the launch of new ventures. Assistance from the Foundry includes business plans, prototype creation, funding, grant writing and mentoring.