SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced the availability of AWS Activate, a structured package of resources for startups, including AWS credits, training, developer support, a special startup community forum and special offers from third parties. AWS Activate bundles resources in packages, designed to enable startups of different types to easily and quickly get started with AWS and successfully use the AWS platform to help grow their businesses. To learn more about AWS Activate, visit: aws.amazon.com/activate.
For startups, it is paramount to gain access to technology resources that enable them to quickly and easily get started and scale as their business grows. Cloud computing allows startups to go beyond the often restricted resources they have and use on-demand, pay-as-you-go services that can be adjusted as needed, while allowing these startups to focus on what really matters – serving their customers and innovating. AWS Activate helps address startups’ needs for technology, support, knowledge sharing and additional resources that make it even easier to use the cloud to grow their businesses.
AWS Activate is organized into two packages – a Self-Starter package, which any startup can apply for, and a Portfolio package, which can be applied for by startups in select accelerator, incubator, venture capital seed funds or entrepreneur organizations. Each package includes varied levels of resources to help fit customers’ needs. Startups receiving either package get access to the Startup Forum, where AWS experts and other startup customers can share best practices. The Startup Forum gives startups a way to learn from and interact with a community of peers building world-changing apps on AWS. In addition, startups accepted into AWS Activate may have access to special offers, such as product discounts, from select third-party companies in the AWS ecosystem, providing startups with additional valuable technologies and tools.
With the Self-Starter package, startups receive:
- Access to the AWS Free Usage Tier: With the AWS Free Usage Tier, new AWS customers have up to one year of free access to a variety of AWS services, enabling developers to launch new applications, broaden their AWS knowledge or simply gain hands-on familiarity with the services – all while incurring no charges. See http://aws.amazon.com/free/terms/ for full offer terms and restrictions.
- One month of Developer-level AWS Support: AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced technical support engineers to help customers of all sizes and technical abilities successfully use AWS. Developer Support includes client side diagnostic tools, best practice guidance and email support with a 12-hour response time from an AWS cloud support associate.
- Web-based training and one self-paced lab: Self-paced labs, available online, are hands-on tutorials designed to help customers acquire new skills and gain practical experience with AWS technologies.
- AWS Startup Forum: The AWS Startup Forum offers the opportunity to tap into the vast body of knowledge in the AWS startup community, including access to tips from experienced startup founders and advice from knowledgeable AWS solutions architects.
- Access to offers on products from select third-party companies: AWS Activate includes special offers from select third-party companies that provide valuable tools for startups. Offers include software for testing, security and automation on the AWS platform.
With the Portfolio package, eligible startups receive:
- AWS credits: AWS credits can be redeemed against fees for eligible services, including Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon EMR, Amazon Redshift, Amazon Glacier and more.
- Business-level AWS Support for up to one year: Business-level AWS Support includes all of the benefits of Developer-level AWS Support, plus AWS Trusted Advisor and access to phone, chat, email and screen sharing support with a one-hour response time from an AWS cloud support engineer.
- Web-based and instructor-led training, including class labs and credit for four self-paced labs: AWS Technical Professional and AWS Essentials courses provide a technical and thorough overview of AWS products and common solutions, and coupled with self-paced labs can help customers gain hands-on experience working with AWS technologies. AWS Essentials is available both on-demand and in live instructor-led trainings.
- Startup Forum privileges: The AWS Startup Forum offers the opportunity to tap into the vast body of knowledge in the AWS startup community, including access to tips from experienced startup founders and advice from knowledgeable AWS solutions architects.
- Access to offers on products from select third-party companies: AWS Activate includes special offers from select third-party companies that provide valuable tools for startups. Offers in the Portfolio package build on those available to Self-Starter package customers, and include software for testing, security and automation on the AWS platform.
“Many of the world’s most successful startups already build their businesses on the AWS cloud. Based on feedback from VCs, startups and entrepreneurs, we developed AWS Activate to help even more startup organizations get going quickly by leveraging AWS to help build their business. We’re happy to offer this to startups of all kinds from around the world today,” said Adam Selipsky, Vice President, Amazon Web Services.
“As a technology startup operating in the cloud, we’re constantly looking to improve our server platform from cost efficiencies to performance and scalability. AWS Activate is great for finding technical resources, getting professional support and connecting with a broad community of developers to get the most out of our cloud computing environment,” said Eric Feng, CTO, Flipboard.
“When our startup set out to change the way people use email, we looked for technologies that could help us scale quickly and affordably. AWS has helped us manage incredible growth while staying focused on our customers, and AWS Activate takes this one step further by bringing together some of the most important resources needed to build a business on AWS,” said Sean Beausoleil, Lead Engineer, Mailbox.
“The ability for startups to quickly build and scale is crucial to their success. With access to resources like AWS Activate, startups can swiftly and easily use AWS and focus on growing their businesses,” said Mark Cranney, Partner, Andreessen Horowitz.
“Programs like AWS Activate make our job of helping new companies change the world easier in that it helps startups get access to the technology resources they need more quickly. We work closely with startups to help them leverage AWS, and AWS Activate makes this even simpler for the future,” said David Cohen, Founder and CEO, Techstars.
About Amazon Web Services
Launched in 2006, Amazon Web Services, Inc. began exposing key infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services -- now widely known as cloud computing. The ultimate benefit of cloud computing, and AWS, is the ability to leverage a new business model and turn capital infrastructure expenses into variable costs. Businesses no longer need to plan and procure servers and other IT resources weeks or months in advance. Using AWS, businesses can take advantage of Amazon's expertise and economies of scale to access resources when their business needs them, delivering results faster and at a lower cost. Today, Amazon Web Services provides a highly reliable, scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that powers hundreds of thousands of enterprise, government and startup customers businesses in 190 countries around the world. Amazon Web Services offers over 30 different services, including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS). AWS services are available to customers from data center locations in the U.S., Brazil, Europe, Japan, Singapore and Australia.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the world’s best-selling and most advanced e-reader. It features new display technology with higher contrast, the next generation built-in light, a faster processor, the latest touch technology, and exclusive new features designed from the ground up for readers. Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, features improved fonts and faster page turns. The new Kindle Fire HDX features a stunning exclusive 7” or 8.9” HDX display, a quad-core 2.2 GHz processor, 2x more memory, and 11 hours of battery life, as well as exclusive new features of Fire OS 3.0 including X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, Prime Instant Video downloads, and the revolutionary new Mayday button. The all-new Kindle Fire HD includes an HD display, high-performance processor and dual speakers at a breakthrough price.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it, www.amazon.es, www.amazon.com.br, www.amazon.in, and www.amazon.com.mx. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment and data center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
