Amazon Web Services “Start-Up Challenge” Comes to Asia Pacific

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) Start-up Challenge is an annual competition designed for young, promising start-ups to get noticed and compete for a chance to win USD$100,000 in cash and credits. It is a contest that encourages start-up companies to leverage the AWS cloud platform to quickly and cost-effectively innovate and build the infrastructure for their businesses. This is the 4th time the Challenge is being held but this is the first time it is being brought to Asia Pacific.

The Challenge

Start-ups that are using the AWS cloud computing platform can submit an application which describes their business plan and their use of AWS.

Contestants will be evaluated on the originality and creativity, the likelihood of long-term success and scalability, how well they address a need in the marketplace, and the degree to which the business implements and integrates the pay-as-you-go technology platform and services offered by AWS.

Entries must be received no later than at midnight U.S. Pacific Time on Oct. 31, 2010 (Singapore time 3pm Nov 1st, 2010).

Regional semi-finalists from Asia Pacific and global finalists will be announced in November.

The grand finals will be held in December in Palo Alto, CA., U.S.A. for judging as well as the prize award ceremony. The final events will be streamed live to allow the greater community to tune in for the winner announcements.

Awards

Regional semi-finalists will receive US$2,500 in AWS service credits. Global finalists will receive US$10,000 in AWS service credits and a trip to Palo Alto, CA., U.S.A for the final judging and awards ceremony. The global grand prize winner will be awarded US$50,000 cash, US$50,000 in AWS service credits, premium support services and technical mentorship from Amazon Web Services for one year, as well as a possible investment offer from Amazon. All qualified contestants will receive US$25 in AWS service credits to kick-start the process of building their businesses on AWS.

Eligibility

Eligible AWS Start-Up Challenge contestants must be privately held companies or individuals legally based in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding the Province of Québec), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom or United States. Eligible contestants must have generated no more than US$10 million in annual revenue and no more than US$10 million in outside funding. Start-ups submitted for the contest must use the cloud computing solutions offered by AWS, such as Amazon Elastic Cloud Compute (Amazon EC2) or Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

For a complete description of the qualifying criteria, contest rules and prize awards, please visit the AWS Start-Up Challenge site.

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