Amazon Web Services (AWS), the largest and most lucrative cloud services provider in the world, has been running accelerator programs for startup founders for years, equipping them with knowledge and expertise on how to build their companies, as well as AWS developer credits. AWS told VentureBeat it has assisted thousands of startups with its accelerators. The Impact Accelerator launched last year has helped 70 underrepresented Black, Latino, and female entrepreneurs in the U.S.
But the cloud arm of the ecommerce giant also had an issue: It was receiving many applications from early-stage startup founders it couldn’t accommodate in existing accelerator programs due to the program requirement.
Now AWS is launching a new, fully virtual global educational and informational program tailored directly toward early-stage, pre-seed startup founders – AWS Build, which is, as of today, officially open for applications. Startups can apply here.
The 10-week-long initiative will kick off this year on October 9 and run through December 15, 2023, providing technical and business guidance in the form of online streaming talks by AWS solutions architecture experts and outsiders, lessons, QA discussions and open forums, community events, and more, all with the goal of getting pre-seed startups to successfully launch a minimum viable product by the program’s end.
Entrepreneurs who apply and are accepted, AWS will accept an inaugural cohort of a staggering 500 companies from around the world in all regions AWS operates — will be able to participate at their own pace, with weekly virtual interactions.
To apply to AWS Build, applicants must join AWS Activate, AWS’s startup hub. Here, they can access business and technical content on various relevant topics, ranging from fundraising and legal guidance to technical documentation on solutions architecture.
They must also already have a technical lead or cofounder, or an expert who can take full advantage of the highly technical lessons offered through AWS Build.