- Recent Funding
- Founders
- Alex Hawkinson
About Alex
Alex Hawkinson is a serial technology entrepreneur who founded SmartThings and BrightAI. He is also a co-founder of Efficient Computer, a company developing energy-efficient AI chips and a compiler for edge devices and embedded systems. Hawkinson has a background in Cognitive Science and has held leadership roles in several technology companies. He is an entrepreneur, investor, hiker, astrophotographer, and dad.
Strengths: founder archetype
one sourced signal · hover a cell for it, click for the source
Why repeat founder
Alex Hawkinson has founded multiple technology companies, including SmartThings, SMBLive, Apptix, BrightAI, and Efficient Computer, demonstrating a consistent pattern of initiating and leading new ventures. His involvement in developing energy-efficient AI chips and his past work in smart home technology suggest a deep engagement with technical innovation and operational execution within specific domains.
The signals behind it 4
- Serial Technology Entrepreneur Founder, BrightAI & SmartThingsRepeat founder
E - Just back from a quick visit to the little cabin in the deep wilderness of Colorado where @smartthings was born 😍Repeat founderX
- I’ve opened an account on twitter to share more of my astrophotography. If you’re interested in that please come follow me there. Onwards and upwards!Technical builderX
- “Efficient's Electron E1 processor fundamentally changes what's possible at the edge. Efficient has delivered a true leap in energy-efficient computation, and integrating E1 into BrightAI's Stateful platform allows us toDomain operator · Technical builder
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Alex Hawkinson | Serial Entrepreneur in AI and IoT
Every tag links its source.
Network
Background
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Timeline, line by line 6
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- Quoted as Founder and CEO of BrightAI in an article about Efficient Computer's Series A funding.Feb 21, 2026P
- Quoted as Founder and CEO of BrightAI in an article about Efficient Computer's Series A funding.Feb 18, 2026
T 
S- Quoted as Founder and CEO of BrightAI in an article about Efficient Computer's partnership with BrightAI.Sep 23, 2025
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F
In their words
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- “I’ve opened an account on twitter to share more of my astrophotography. If you’re interested in that please come follow me there. Onwards and upwards!”Announcing a new Twitter account for astrophotography. · Jan 29, 2022X
- “I spent a night collecting light from M81 with a 3 nm Hydrogen Alpha filter which highlights specific areas where active star formation is occurring in the galaxy. @AJamesMcCarthy added this data together with my previous LRGB and it’s beautiful!”Describing his astrophotography work. · Jan 25, 2022X
- “The Horse and Flame - this area of the winter sky surrounding the Horsehead nebula never ceases to amaze me. Here’s a deep view from dark skies in natural color. Photographed unfiltered with a cooled astronomy camera. 4 hours of total capture time. I hope you enjoy it!”Sharing an astrophotography image and details about its capture. · Jan 16, 2022X
- “Hey @amazon I feel like you are over indexed on the idea that delivering early is always better. It’s not. When a specific date is selected, honor it.”Expressing frustration with Amazon's delivery practices. · Sep 3, 2021X
- “Leadership that invites violence and divides us.”Commenting on leadership during a time of social unrest. · May 29, 2020X
- “Having robots and AI do a lot of work and universal basic income sounds pretty good now doesn’t it?”Reflecting on the potential benefits of automation and UBI during the COVID-19 pandemic. · Apr 5, 2020X
- “Efficient's Electron E1 processor fundamentally changes what's possible at the edge. Efficient has delivered a true leap in energy-efficient computation, and integrating E1 into BrightAI's Stateful platform allows us to unlock a new sphere of physical AI, bringing real-time observability to the world's most critical infrastructure.”Commenting on the impact of Efficient Computer's Electron E1 processor. · Feb 21, 2026P
Interviews and coverage
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- Efficient Computer raises $60M to build less power-hungry AI chipsTechnical.ly · Feb 18, 2026T
- Efficient Computer: $60 Million Series A Closed For Energy-Efficient Processor TechnologyPulse 2.0 · Feb 21, 2026P
- Efficient Computer and Bright AI focus on intelligent edgeGamesBeat · Sep 23, 2025G
- Efficient Computer raises $60M for AI processors that are 100X more energy efficientGamesBeat · Feb 18, 2026G
How this is researched
Researched from public pages: press, interviews, the company's site and the founder's own posts. Each source logo links the page that states the row; anything we couldn't source is left out. The archetype is our reading of that record, from a fixed set so founders can be compared. Updated Oct 12, 2026.
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