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Amazon Web Services, an Amazon.com company, announced today the start of its fifth annual AWS Start-Up Challenge, a contest that recognizes new and innovative uses of its cloud computing platform in start-up companies.
Amazon Web Services has expanded the contest worldwide and will choose a total of 15 regional semifinalists from the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Within the AWS community, we’re seeing hotbeds of innovation emerge throughout the world,” said Adam Selipsky, vice president of AWS. “AWS has leveled the playing field as smaller companies gain the resources to compete in ways that were very expensive and often cost prohibitive in the past.”
“AWS allows customers to pay only for the resources they use with no up-front investment, enabling entrepreneurs to put their ideas to work as quickly as their businesses scale,” he added.
According to Amazon, global finalists will be chosen and awarded a package of $10,000 in AWS credits and a trip to attend the final round of judging and awards ceremony. The global grand prize winner will be awarded with $50,000 in cash and $50,000 in AWS credits, AWS premium support services for one year and technical mentorship from Amazon Web Services for one year, as well as a possible investment offer from Amazon.
Entries will be judged on their implementation of Amazon’s cloud services, originality and creativity of the business, likelihood of long-term success and scalability and how well the business addresses a need in the marketplace, Amazon said.
All eligible contestants will receive $25 in service credits, and to be eligible companies must have generated less than $10 million in annual revenue and received no more than $10 million in outside funding.
