Tiffany Bloomquist, Asia-Pacific and Japan Head of Startups, AWS
At the recent AWS re:Invent 2024 conference in Las Vegas, Amazon Web Services (AWS) made several announcements about its latest product innovation for customers worldwide. However, for the global startup ecosystem, the most intriguing one might be the company’s allocation of US$1 billion in Activate Credits for startups in 2025.
In an interview with e27, Tiffany Bloomquist, Asia-Pacific and Japan Head of Startups, AWS, revealed how the company plans to continue supporting the startup ecosystem with the initiative. As an initiative that has been around for a while, Activate Credits enable startup customers to realise their ideas before they secure VC funding.
“How do we help those in the early stages—while they are finding their way—to get them to the best solution to meet their full potential? We are deeply committed to finding ways that startups can experiment and potentially disrupt industries. There are massive amounts of change that we think is coming and has been coming with AI, and startups are the ones to move the fastest,” she says.
“Startups are passionate about a particular customer outcome, and they look at ways that they can achieve that faster and in different ways. They tend to be some of the first to adopt to experiment.”
Bloomquist further explains that startup customers often require support from AWS, as their cloud platform provider, for their go-to-market initiatives.
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“Once startups have had enough successful wins and references in their home market, they are finally ready to expand to international markets. But, where do you start?” she says.
Bloomquist with the finalists of the AWS Unicorn Tank: A Startup Pitch Competition
“So, our job is to meet with them and help them understand the qualities that make them ready for an international market, the type of product, and how it fits into that market. We also help them choose which ones might be next. Often, we see people want to immediately jump to the US because it is a large market with many opportunities. Still, sometimes you need to skip that for a neighbouring ASEAN country or a market similar to the one you are operating in.”
To ease these steps, AWS already has platforms and toolsets, like its marketplace or partner programmes, which allow startups to interact with potential customers already in the AWS network.
“Our goal is to figure out the best way for these startups to connect with each other and into the ecosystem so they can continue to grow in the countries where they operate. We also need to evaluate what it means to scale long term and into international markets over time?”
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To reach out to these startups, AWS set up several different activities, such as the Unicorn Tank startup competition. The company’s business development team also works closely with the investor and VC communities, allowing them to see the array of solutions that AWS offers for their portfolio companies. According to Bloomquist, this helps to create awareness in the community.
Lastly, she shares the most exciting innovation that Southeast Asian (SEA) companies have come up with.
“There is a focus in ASEAN on building culturally aware, Large Language Models that acknowledge the diversity that exists in the region and helps to leverage the latest technology.”
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Lead Image Credit: AWS
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