Looking for more success stories to add to its portfolio, Google has assembled a starter package to help startup businesses ramp up operations with free Google Cloud Platform services.
Startups that qualify will get a $100,000 credit for Google Cloud Platform services, along with around-the-clock support and access to the company’s technical solutions team.
The program, called the Google Cloud Platform for Startups, is restricted to early-stage startups that are already part of a technology incubator or accelerator, or have been funded by a venture capital firm.
Applicants must generate less than $500,000 in annual revenue, be less that 5 years old, and have received less than $5 million in investments.
Appealing to startups could help Google help form a customer base around its cloud services, especially as some startups will become successful and use many of Google’s services.
For instance, Amazon Web Services, a competitor to the Google Cloud Platform, was was adopted early on by Pinterest which was run by 12 employees. As Pinterest’s popularity took off, the company was able to handle over 17 million users, without any investment in IT infrastructure, by using AWS.
Success stories are also an important part of marketing cloud services, because they provide examples to potential customers of businesses that have already successfully used the cloud provider.
Successful start-ups, in particular, can be good examples in that they show how a small company can use a cloud’s natural capabilities of quickly scaling up to meet sudden demand, without the potentially crippling need to invest in hardware.
The Google Cloud Platform has a number of its own startup success stories. Snapchat uses the Google cloud infrastructure, and its customers send over 700 million photos and videos each day. The Khan Academy bases its online education programs on the Google cloud as well.
The Google Cloud Platform offers the Google Compute Engine, the Google Apps Engine, as well as a variety of platform analytic services.