Each startup will receive a total of $125,000 and up to $100,000 AWS Activate credits, business guidance, technical guidance, peer community and ongoing advisory support. Startups will have the opportunity to learn from and connect with more than 20 collaborating organizations that are on board to support the AWS Impact Accelerator as mentors, guest speakers, and advisors. They include organizations that work with Black, Latino, LGBTQIA+, and women founders such as Black Women Talk Tech (BWTT), digital undivided, and StartOut, as well as venture capital firms such as Backstage Capital and Lightship Capital. The program will also prepare startups for entry into seed-stage accelerators that work closely with AWS, such as Visible Hands. Each qualifying startup will receive the following benefits: “Innovation plays such an important role in unlocking opportunities for women and people of colour, and we need to make sure more of them are able to go from early-stage founder to success story,” said Yasmin Cruz Ferrini, General Partner and Co-founder of Visible Hands. “These AWS programs fill a genuine need along that journey and will provide a crucial lift for disruptors who are driving economic growth through entrepreneurship and invention.” Up to $100,000 in AWS service credits through AWS Activate, a program that has helped hundreds of thousands of early-stage startups grow their businesses in the cloud. Startups that qualify for AWS Activate can use these credits for scalable, reliable, and secure AWS Cloud services such as computing, storage, database, analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning. Access to more than 80 exclusive offers, through AWS Activate, on products and services that help startups grow, from companies like Dropbox, New Relic, Notion, and Stripe. Unlimited access to a dedicated team of mentors and AWS technologists to guide startups during and after the program. Access to AWS IQ for startups to engage AWS-certified, third-party developers when building their cloud-based solutions. Networking sessions with investors and pitch coaching from startup experts to help participants raise seed funding. Applications are open for the first AWS Impact Accelerator for Black Founders, with the program kicking off in June for U.S.-based startups. The first AWS Impact Accelerator for Women Founders will take place in the second half of the year for U.S.-based startups. The AWS Impact Accelerator for LGBTQIA+ Founders and AWS Impact Accelerator for Latino Founders will follow in 2023. After a startup completes an AWS Impact Accelerator, they will continue to receive guidance and resources through a virtual community, alumni events, permanent access to the curriculum (including future content), and ongoing advisory support from mentors and AWS technical experts. “We would love to have been part of something like this in the early days of our company because building a startup is not easy,” said Dave Salvant, a confirmed guest speaker at the upcoming AWS Impact Accelerator for Black Founders, and President and Co-founder of Squire, a startup that offers a technology platform for barbershops. “We’re honoured to have the opportunity to share what we’ve learned with the next wave of Black founders and make a meaningful difference in their journey.”
