In an attempt to gain market share among up-and-coming startups, Google announced a new Cloud Platform for Startups program today that gives qualified startups $100,000 in Google Cloud Platform credits that they can use for a year to build out their services and applications using the company’s cloud platform.
Companies can also get one-on-one office hours with Google engineers to go over technical architecture. The program is only open to companies that are in an approved incubator, accelerator or VC fund, haven’t received past credits from Google, have raised less than $5 million in funding, and have less than $500,000 in annual revenue.
It’s similar to Microsoft’s BizSpark program, which offers entrepreneurs and startups new software and services for free or at steep discounts, including credits for Microsoft Azure, its cloud services platform.
The move is a clear attempt to draw startups away from competing cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services. Urs Hözle, Google’s Senior Vice President for Technical Infrastructure, has said that he believes the company’s public cloud business will outpace its advertising business in the future as more and more companies take their businesses onto the company’s servers in one way or another. Of course, to do that, Google needs to attract customers.
Amazon has been working hard to be the company that startups turn to when they’re getting their companies off the ground. That has worked out well, considering that a number of large companies including Netflix, Expedia and AirBnB are still using AWS to power parts of their business.
Startups interested in learning more about Google’s new program can find information here.
