Technology
Snowflake intends to extend its startup accelerator with an additional $200 million in commitments, as the tech giant specializing in cloud-based data storage announced on Thursday.
This new capital infusion follows a series of initiatives by Snowflake over recent months that highlight the company’s growth aspirations.
The Snowflake Startup Accelerator, previously known as the Powered by Snowflake Funding Program, invests in a diverse array of early-stage startups. Specifically, the accelerator focuses on startups developing AI-driven industry-specific solutions utilizing Snowflake. Participants in the accelerator receive technical support from Snowflake and gain access to co-marketing opportunities along with credits for Amazon’s public cloud service, AWS.
Alumni from past cohorts include Coalesce, Andrew Ng’s LandingAI, and TwelveLabs.
A portion of the initial $200 million will come from both new and existing venture capital partners of Snowflake including Bain Capital Ventures, Blackstone Innovations Investments, Bessemer Venture Partners, Capital One Ventures, Overall Catalyst, Greylock Partners, Hetz Ventures, Mayfield Fund, NewBuild Venture Capital , NTTVC , and Advantage.
Ther are some important details to consider. In a blog post celebrating this initiative , Snowflake noted that while participating VC firms may also invest in companies within the Snowflake Startup Accelerator , there is “no guarantee” that any specific company will receive funding or that the total target amount will be fully allocated.
Snowflake has also unveiled plans for a new AI hub spanning over 30 thousand square feet at its Menlo Park campus along with a $20 million program aimed at enhancing AI skills. The company continues to make important investments in AI technology. Earlier this week it announced an expanded collaboration with Microsoft to provide access to AI models developed by OpenAI. Last year ,they established a multi-year partnership with Anthropic and acquired Datavolo , which specializes in AI data pipelines.
Snowflakes strategy appears effective . The company surpassed Wall Street analyst expectations for its latest fiscal quarter (Q4 2024), achieving revenues of $987 million .
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