Google Inc. announced today it’s giving out a one-year, $100,000 credit to startups using its Google Cloud Platform service, a boon for new companies looking to use the cloud to get their businesses up and running.
The $100,000 credit can be applied to all of Google’s Cloud Platform products, including App Engine, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Cloud Datastore, Cloud SQL, BigQuery, and so on. Startups using the credit will also get access to 24/7 tech support, as well as the chance to schedule one-on-one interviews with Google’s Cloud Platform solutions engineers.
However, Google has a number of requirements for startups looking to take advantage of the credit. To apply, startups need to be working with an approved accelerator, incubator, or venture capital (VC) fund. They cannot have received any Cloud Platform credits in the past, they must have less than $5 million in funding, and they need to generate less than $500,000 in annual revenue.
For startups to apply, they need to go through their accelerator, incubator, or VC. For the full list of eligible accelerators and VCs, head on over here. Accelerators and VCs can also email Google Cloud Platform’s team to join.
“This offer supports our core Google Cloud Platform philosophy: we want developers to focus on code; not worry about managing infrastructure,” wrote Julie Pearl, Google’s head of developer relations, in a blog post.
“Thousands of startups have built successful applications on Google Cloud Platform and those applications have grown to serve tens of millions of users. It has been amazing to watch Snapchat send over 700 million photos and videos a day and Khan Academy teach millions of students. We look forward to helping the next generation of startups launch great products.”
Google’s offer to extend a free $100,000 credit may be handy for a new, early-stage company, but it also works out well for itself. With most startups using Amazon Web Services, and others using Microsoft BizSpark, Google clearly wants to attract more early-stage companies to its platform – and of course, eventually those companies will turn into paying customers.