Snowflake, a cloud data storage giant, recently announced a $200 million investment in its startup accelerator program. Initially called the "Powered by Snowflake Funding Program," this accelerator invests in a wide range of early-stage startups, particularly those focusing on building industry-specific AI products on the Snowflake platform. This injection of capital is a continuation of Snowflake's recent growth strategy, demonstrating the company's ambition to accelerate its expansion.
Startups joining the Snowflake accelerator receive technical support, joint go-to-market opportunities, and AWS credits. Past successful graduates include notable companies like Coalesce, LandingAI (founded by Andrew Ng), and TwelveLabs. Through this support, Snowflake aims to help startups grow rapidly and establish themselves in a competitive market.
It's worth noting that part of the $200 million comes from Snowflake's existing and new venture capital partners, including Bain Capital, Blackstone Innovation Investments, Bessemer Venture Partners, Capital One Ventures, General Catalyst, Greylock Partners, Hetz Ventures, Mayfield, NewBuild Venture, NTT VC, and Virtue. While participating venture capital firms may invest in Snowflake accelerator companies, Snowflake's blog clarifies that it doesn't guarantee funding for any specific company or that the entire target amount will be invested.
Snowflake isn't just increasing its startup investment; it's also actively expanding in the AI field. The company plans to build a 30,000-square-foot "AI Center" at its Menlo Park campus and has launched a $20 million AI skills development program. Just this week, Snowflake announced an expanded partnership with Microsoft, providing access to AI models from OpenAI. Late last year, Snowflake signed a multi-year agreement with Anthropic and acquired AI data pipeline company Datavolo.
Snowflake's strategy seems to be paying off. In its recent earnings report, the company's Q4 (FY2024) revenue reached $987 million, exceeding Wall Street analysts' expectations and demonstrating its competitiveness in the rapidly growing AI market.
