The 2011 AWS Start-Up Challenge is Now On!

I am pleased to announce that the 2011 AWS Start-Up Challenge is now On! If you are part of promising young start-up and you use (or plan to use) one or more of the Amazon Web Services, please read the Official Rules and consider submitting an entry.

Expanded World Footprint
Based on the feedback that we’ve heard in years past, we have broadened the program so that young companies from just about anywhere in the world are now welcome to take part in the challenge (please read the detailed eligibility section in our Official Rules to see if you qualify). We are looking for applications that make good use of AWS, exhibit a high degree of originality and creativity, have a strong likelihood of success, an ability to scale, and which meet a clear need in the marketplace.

Prizes and Process
We’ll select five regional semi-finalists from each of three regions (The Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). Each of the fifteen regional semi-finalists will receive $2,500 in AWS credits.

Next, we’ll select a minimum of 6 finalists. Each finalist will be awarded $10,000 in AWS credits and a trip to Palo Alto, California to attend meet with our judges prior to the final round of judging. The grand prize winner will be announced that very same day at a public event attended by venture capitalists and other start-ups. Prizes for the winning start-up include $50,000 in cash, $50,000 in AWS credits, a year of AWS Premium Gold Support, free consulting with AWS Solution Architects, and a potential investment offer from Amazon.

Introducing the YouNoodle Contest Platform
This year, in an effort to build a better contest experience for contest participants, we are working with a web-based contest platform & global startup community called YouNoodle. As part of the entry process, you will be asked to provide a password for your YouNoodle account this will enable you to come back and edit your entry as long as its before our contest deadline, on October 2nd.

Since we are accepting submissions from three separate regions, please use the appropriate form, as follows:

North, Central, or South America (including the Caribbean)	Asia-Pacific or Japan	Europe, Middle East, or Africa

Our 2010 grand prize winner was M-Dot Networks. The runner-ups included Compass Labs, Loggly, Mediology, TellApart, Yottaa, and Zoombu.

Talk To Us
If you have any questions about YouNoodle or any other aspect of the contest, please read the Official Rules, FAQ, or reach out to us: awsstartups@amazon.com or @AWSstartups on Twitter.

Get Going!
I am really looking forward to seeing your entry, so you’d better stop reading this post and get busy! All entries must be finalized before midnight (PST) on October 2, 2011.

— Jeff;

Modified 3/11/2021 – In an effort to ensure a great experience, expired links in this post have been updated or removed from the original post.