Amazon Web Services has begun their 2009 AWS Start-Up Challenge. They are looking for the most promising start-ups that can grow into significant, meaningful, and lasting companies that leverage AWS to build infrastructure and business.
Start-ups in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Israel are encouraged to apply for a chance to win $50,000 in cash, $50,000 in AWS credits, mentoring sessions from AWS technical experts, and AWS Premium Support Gold for one year.
To enter, entrants tell AWS about their existing company or start-up idea by completing the online application by August 26, 2009. The judges will review all applications and choose 5 finalists based on the following criteria: originality and creativity of the idea, likelihood of long-term success and scalability, how well it addresses a need in the marketplace, implementation of payments functionality, quality of presentation, and implementation of AWS infrastructure services and/or other paid services.
In October, the finalists will be announced and AWS will post a video of each finalist on aws.amazon.com where the community can vote for their favorite start-up as they prepare for the final judging round.
For the final event, AWS will fly each of the finalists to San Jose, CA, USA to present their idea to a judges panel of AWS executives. That evening, finalists will pitch their business to a live audience and a panel of leaders from the venture capital community then the grand prize winner will be announced.
Reap the Rewards
The grand prize winner will receive $50,000 in cash, $50,000 in AWS service credits, mentoring sessions from AWS technical experts, and AWS Premium Support Gold for one year. The grand prize winner may also receive a possible investment offer from Amazon. All runner-up finalists will receive $5,000 in AWS service credits and all finalists will be included in various promotional activities. Plus, all eligible entrants completing the application form will receive $25 in AWS service credits.
The AWS Start-Up Challenge finalist with the most creative monetization model using Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) or Simple Pay from Amazon Payments will receive $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in Amazon Payments credits. Also, all finalists using these payment services will receive $2,500 in Amazon Payments credits and will be included in various promotional activities.
See the Official Rules and Prizes for more information.
