Highlights –

  • Google cloud has decided to offer USD 100,000 each year for early stage startups as part of its Google for Startup Cloud Program.
  • The funding covers all Google Cloud services and products, and it should be more than enough to cover the startup’s cloud cost for these two years.

After focusing on increasing its enterprise customers in recent times, Google Cloud is revisiting old times and is reaching out to startups. The tech giant announced that as part of the Google for Startups Cloud Program, it would be providing up to USD 100,000 in financial support to early-stage startups. On January 27, 2022, the company announced that it would be giving significant financial support – up to USD 100,000 each year – to an early-stage startup as part of the Google for Startups Cloud Program.

Additionally, the cloud business is aligning the two-year program with Google for startups to ensure customers get a consistent experience across all of Google as they seek access to Google mentors, products, programs, and best practices. All early-stage companies in the Google for Startups Cloud Program will now be able to access Google Cloud point of contact during their two years within the program.

When Thomas Kurian took over as the CEO of Google Cloud in 2019, he put more emphasis on the enterprise. Ryan Kiskis, the current Director of Google Cloud’s Startup Ecosystem, said that his team is working in close connection with Kurian to ensure they “clearly communicate and demonstrate the commitment to the startup ecosystem.”

The new startup support will cover the first year of Google Cloud usage for early-stage companies through Series A rounds, up to USD 100,000. In their second year of the program, startups will have 20% of their Google Cloud usage costs covered, up to an additional USD 100,000 in credits.

The funding covers all the company’s products and services, and it should be enough to cover all of the startup’s cloud costs for the next two years.

Expert view

“Startups have always been an incredibly important part of our customer base, and they continue to be so,” Ryan Kiskis, Director of Google Cloud’s Startup Ecosystem, told a news journal website. “These customers grow incredibly quickly. We have customers who join our program and, months later, are at the scale of usage of our enterprise customers. They’re going to be our next generation of enterprises.”

“We want to make sure they’re focusing on building and delivering what they need,” he said.