On Tuesday, Google announced an expansion to its Cloud Program that has exclusive benefits for Web3 startups. The benefits include up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years, Customer Care support, a gated Discord server, and access to Web3 conferences like Consensus.
Admitted Web3 startups, which must be in the pre-seed and Series A series of funding, may also receive a $1 million grant from the program’s partners: Aptos, Celo, Flow, the HBAR Foundation, Near, and the Solana Foundation. The organizations are offering the grants to speed up Web3 growth and will provide resources to support the development of the startups.
In addition, Google has partnered with Web3 analytics company Nansen to provide startups with one-month free of Nansen Query and 20% off Nansen products for an additional 12 months. Finally, startups will receive up to $10,000 in Alchemy credits, which gives the budding companies a third-party to receive feedback about product ideas.
In a statement, the Web2 giant said that it is expanding its Cloud Program for Web3 startups to give blockchain developers the tools they need without saddling their companies with debt. The expansion is akin to an accelerator, with participating startups receiving guidance, networking opportunities, and financial support.
Although it once criticized the cryptocurrency industry, Google has changed its tune in recent years. In October of 2022, it launched an in-house Blockchain Node Engine that enabled Web3 companies to perform a host of blockchain tasks via Google Cloud. Earlier this month, it announced a partnership with Celo to support sustainability focused Web3 startups.
According to Google’s blog post, Web3 companies admitted to the program will be able to focus on innovation over infrastructure. Some specific examples the company cited were the creation of decentralized applications, Web3 tooling, and other services.
Cloud Services Web3 Arms Race Heats Up
While Google’s expanded Cloud Program for Web3 startups is a good sign for the crypto industry, it isn’t the only company gearing up for a “cloud services Web3 arms race.” From giants like Amazon and Microsoft to smaller companies like Impossible Cloud and Chainstack, more and more organizations are competing for a land grab in the Web3 cloud services space.
In January, Amazon Web Services, the company’s on-demand cloud computing platform, partnered with Ava Labs, the organization behind Layer 1 blockchain Avalanche. The goal of the partnership was to scale blockchain adoption across governments and businesses. Together, the two plan to democratize crypto access throughout the world.
Microsoft has been no slouch either. Just last week, it partnered with Space and Time, a Web3 data warehouse, to allow its clients to access and manage blockchain-based data more easily. In addition, Azure already offers a suite of tools for prospective Web3 companies, including those that facilitate the development of blockchain services.
Then there are the smaller companies. Impossible Cloud, which has a platform that supports nearly an unlimited capacity of storage, recently raised $7.6 million to provide decentralized cloud services to mainstream and Web3 companies. Tencent Cloud, who has partnered with Ankr and Scroll, offers a cloud virtual machine that covers 26 regions, and Chainstack has created a cloud service that delivers a “new paradigm.”
As today’s news from Google shows, the arms race in the Web3 cloud services space is heating up. Rarity Sniper will be here to report on any developments in it as they unfold.
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