Amazon Web Services is pouring $30 million into early-stage startups built by underrepresented entrepreneurs.
The cloud services arm of Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) said it will make the investment over the next three years by launching multiple accelerator programs for companies led by Black, Latino, LGBTQ and women founders.
The first AWS Impact Accelerator, announced Wednesday and now accepting applications, will serve Black founders. That program, open to companies headquartered within the U.S., starts in June — to be followed by an accelerator for female founders in the second half of 2022, and those for LGBTQ and Latino founders in 2023.
AWS and Amazon have offices in downtown Portland. AWS was established in the Rose City in 2015 when it bought Elemental Technologies.
The company said it will give up to $225,000 in cash and credits to each venture. That includes a $125,000 cash grant and up to $100,000 in AWS credits for storage, analytics, machine learning, compute, database and Internet of Things services.
It will also offer resources such as AWS IQ to give the founders access to third-party developers that can help build their cloud-based products, as well as training, technical guidance, networking sessions, mentorship and coaching.
The eight-week program will provide curriculum and sessions from startup experts and guest speakers — on topics ranging from investor pitching to cloud infrastructure optimization. It aims to help position “high-potential” and “pre-seed” cloud-based startups to gain experience, raise financing and scale from there. It also aims to help these companies get ready for seed-stage accelerators like Visible Handsa, which works closely with AWS.
The goal: to “level the playing field so that founders can pursue their ideas and grow successful businesses regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or race,” AWS CEO Adam Selipsky said in a statement. “AWS is committed to helping underrepresented founders succeed and build powerful cloud solutions that capture the attention of investors and customers.”
AWS said it launches this program with an intention to help diminish the gap in access to capital for underrepresented founders; companies founded by women secured a mere 2% of the investment dollars raised in 2021, and the amount of venture investments flowing to Black and brown women fell even lower.
