How Google Cloud is helping more startups build, grow, and scale their businesses

Today is our second-annual Google Cloud Startup Summit, and we couldn’t be more excited to connect with leaders, founders, and innovators from across the startup ecosystem to learn how they’re innovating and solving some of the world’s biggest challenges.

Startups come to Google Cloud to build their companies and products on our trusted, developer-friendly infrastructure, and to take advantage of our leading capabilities in areas like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and analytics. In January, we expanded our support for early-stage startups to make it even easier for them to get up-and-running on Google Cloud by covering their cloud costs up to $100,000 USD for two years, providing dedicated Startup Success Managers to assist along their journeys, and much more. 

We’re excited today to announce several new offers, resources, and programs that will help even more startups build and grow their businesses.

Expanding early-stage financial support to include bootstrapped startups

The first of these new offers is that self-funded startups who apply to our Google for Startups Cloud Program can now receive $2,000 USD in Google Cloud credits to use over two years to help fund the development of proof-of-concepts and showcase their products to investors, talent, and customers. 

In addition, bootstrapped startups may also qualify for discounts on Google Domains and Google Workspace, giving them the tools they need to help build their companies and products, and collaborate with their teams. 

We'll update our Google for Startups Cloud Program website in the coming weeks with more information and details about this offer. 

Setting founders up for success with new Startup School workshops

We also know that an innovative product or vision can help startups stand out, particularly in the early days of development. That’s why in 2020, Google for Startups created Startup School — a comprehensive training program designed to equip early-stage startups and founders with the tools, products, and knowledge needed to support their growing company. The curriculum provides education on growth, technologies, and products, and covers topics like getting started with Google Cloud, making technical hires, preparing a data pipeline, and setting business objectives and key results (OKRs).

As an extension of this work, this fall we’ll be offering new, live workshops on a monthly basis that will be focused on topics like data analytics and application development, which will help startups build faster with tools and technologies tailored to their needs. These live Startup School sessions will also give founders and teams the opportunity to ask Google experts questions directly and discuss common challenges.

Supporting diverse founders and inclusivity across the globe 

We remain committed to supporting a diverse ecosystem of startups, so we’re thrilled to host, in partnership with Inicio Ventures, 30 leading LatinX investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders in Miami next week during the first-ever Google for Startups LatinX Leaders Summit. At the summit, members of the LatinX startup community will have the opportunity to connect with key figures in the space and work together to develop more resources and ways to support startups in the LatinX community so they can overcome barriers and succeed, in the cloud and beyond.

We also recently announced that Google for Startups has teamed up with Visible Hands to run a 20-week fellowship program to support the next wave of early-stage LatinX founders across the United States. In addition to hands-on support from industry and Google experts, the program will provide $10,000 in cash for every participant to help kickstart their ideas. Participants in the program will also have the opportunity to receive additional investments from Visible Hands, up to $150,000. Click here to learn more about this program and apply. 

And to help startups prioritize equity and inclusion in their business from day one, we’re proud to have Google DEI and Product Inclusion leads Alexandra Garcia and Steph Boudreau lead a session during the Startup Summit today, outlining how founders can build inclusive products and teams from the start.

Celebrating startups across the ecosystem  

No matter the industry, solution, or geography, we’re proud of how startups are using Google Cloud technologies to create impactful customer experiences. 

Take web3 startup IoTeX, whose blockchain-based platform handles millions of transactions for machines, devices, and people — with 99.9% platform reliability — by using Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) to absorb load during surges, so the company can continue growing at scale. Or 3co, which uses Google Cloud technologies like Compute Engine to scale compute power quickly, and Tensorflow to provide ​​3D technology experiences for global e-commerce companies. 

In Singapore, retailTech startup Palexy is using Google Cloud AI/ML products like Vertex AI alongside GKE to quickly build, test, deploy, and manage their applications, which in turn helps helps Palexy deliver solutions that help retailers use data and AI to sustainably grow their business and improve the in-store shopping experience for customers.

And for France-based social media startup BeReal, creating an impactful customer experience means giving people a platform to become closer to the friends and family they care most about. Using Google Firebase as the foundation to build the prototype, the BeReal platform now uses Cloud Functions for Firebase and GKE, so Alexis and the BeReal team can build and deploy new platform functionalities with speed as the business scales.

The flexibility made possible by the cloud—and greater access than ever before to bleeding edge capabilities in AI, ML, and analytics—are opening new doors for startups to innovate and grow, and we're committing to helping them do so on Google Cloud. 

We’re grateful to be on this journey with our startup customers, and we look forward to continuing to provide resources and facilitate discussions to better serve the specific needs in this space. Keep an eye out for our “Ask TK” blog series, launching later this June, in which Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and other top thought leaders will address common questions and challenges faced by startups. You can also catch a few top questions, answered by Thomas, in today’s event. 

To learn more about the Google for Startups Cloud Program, or to apply to get more support for your startup, please visit our program application page.