Zoom has announced the Zoom Apps Fund, a new $100 million venture fund created to stimulate the growth of Zoom’s ecosystem of Apps, integrations, developer platform, and hardware.
Successful startups will receive initial investments between $250,000 and $2.5 million to build solutions that will become core to how Zoom customers meet, communicate, and collaborate. Zoom Apps, announced at Zoomtopia 2020, are leading applications that will bring productivity and engaging experiences directly into the Zoom platform.
There are dozens of apps currently in development and are an important component in building the future of video communications. The Zoom Apps Fund will invest in developer partners with viable products and early market traction that will provide valuable and engaging experiences to our customers.
“I founded Zoom in 2011, nearly ten years ago. Without the support of early investors, Zoom would not be what it is today,” said Eric S. Yuan, Founder and CEO of Zoom. “What I’ve learned over the past year is that we need to keep meetings productive and fun. My hope is that the Zoom Apps Fund will help our customers meet happier and collaborate even more seamlessly, and at the same time help entrepreneurs build new businesses as our platform evolves.”
The fund will allow developers to build their apps, do integrations, video and its SDKs, and hardware to increase engagement, collaboration and improve user experiences. The $100 million fund will be invested in portfolio companies looking to revolutionize the way its customers meet, collaborate, and communicate on our rapidly expanding platform. The fund will make an initial investment of $250,000 to $2.5 million in each portfolio company plus other resources.
Recently, the firm invested in edtech startups to address the education challenges of today through initiatives including diversifying the teaching profession, entrepreneurial job training, assisting aspiring youth in conflict-affected areas to join the digital economy, and providing access to science-based approaches to reading education.
The startups include Mali’s Kabakoo Academies, Open Up Resources, Re:Coded, and STEM From Dance, Cambiar Education, and Center for Black Educator Development. and also gave them access to its technology, volunteer support, and funding to help them scale. The total amount of grant funding is $1 million from Zoom Cares, the firm’s philanthropic organization.
In May last year, the firm acquired secure messaging and file-sharing service Keybase in a bid to further strengthen the security of its video communications platform leveraging its deep encryption and security expertise.