Announcing the Snowflake Startup Challenge and Preferred Partnership
Win $250,000 and Global Exposure
I’m excited to announce that Snowflake is now a Startup Grind Preferred Partner! Startups build in the Snowflake Data Cloud to create data applications with near-unlimited scale, concurrency, and performance. We’re inviting Startup Grind members who are building a data application, join the Snowflake Startup Challenge and compete for up to a $250,000 investment from Snowflake and exposure to top-tier venture capital firms!
The Snowflake Startup Challenge is for early stage startups with less than $2 million in funding and includes prizes for up to 10 Semi-finalists The final 3 will get to pitch at the Snowflake Summit in front of investors and customers, where the grand prize will be announced.
Register your interest today and submit your application by March 30, 2021. See official rules for details.
We’re also inviting members of the Startup Grind community to apply to join the Snowflake for Startups program to build with free credits, get access to our SaaS architects and benefit from co-marketing with Snowflake.
Why Build on Snowflake?
As a former startup, we understand the challenges startups face. Our platform removes many of the traditional obstacles startups encounter when working with data, including the management of complex infrastructure.
The Snowflake platform separates compute from storage enabling your application to scale up and down on demand without the need for costly over provisioning. Native support for JSON and other semi-structured data simplifies data pipelines, and the Snowflake Data Marketplace enables you to get exposure and generate new revenue streams.
With the Snowflake Data Cloud, startups can focus on building and growing their data applications rather than managing infrastructure. Hundreds of companies have already adopted Snowflake’s platform to build data intensive applications such as customer 360, IoT, machine learning, security, and embedded analytics applications.
The Startup Challenge takes our support for startups one step further by providing the opportunity to benefit from additional funding, access to experts, and marketing exposure.
What Startups are Eligible To Participate in the Startup Challenge?
Registration is now open! To qualify, candidates must meet all the requirements in the Official Rules including:
- Snowflake must be used as a core part of the architecture to power a customer-facing data application
- Eligible startups must be independent legal entities with less than $2M in funding
The submission period ends on March 30, 2021. Online submissions must include a demo video (up to five minutes long) and a description of the application. Registered participants can access an extended trial account with $400 in credits for the duration of the competition.
At the end of April 2021, up to 10 semi-finalists will be announced. Semi-finalists will be required to submit additional materials, including an investor pitch video recording (up to five minutes), and provide access to their application.
Three finalists will be named in May 2021, and these three startups will present a live pitch to judges at Snowflake Summit in summer 2021, where the grand prize winner will be announced.
Review the rules and FAQ for more details.
How will Startups be Evaluated?
The following questions demonstrate the type of criteria that will be used to evaluate candidates:
- How do you use Snowflake’s unique capabilities to power your application?
- How is your application fresh and original, and does it enable you to build a competitive advantage?
- What is the business potential for your application?
- Does your leadership team have the ability to execute?
Judging the challenge and selecting the winner will be Benoit Dageville, Snowflake Co-Founder and President of Product; Denise Persson, Snowflake Chief Marketing Officer; Mike Speiser, Managing Director at Sutter Hill Ventures; and Carl Eschenbach, Partner at Sequoia Capital.
The grand prize winner may receive up to a $250,000 investment from Snowflake. In addition, Snowflake will provide co-marketing opportunities and access to its internal experts for advice on application design.
I hope you’re as excited as I am about this challenge, and look forward to receiving your entry. To learn more, visit the Startup Challenge Registration Page.
