In order to foster growth across its ecosystem and support its developer community, Zoom (opens in new tab) has announced that it will launch a new $100m venture capital fund.
The video conferencing (opens in new tab) company's Zoom Apps Fund will invest in portfolio companies that aim to revolutionize the way in which Zoom customers meet, collaborate and communicate on its rapidly expanding platform.
After launching its Video SDK (opens in new tab) back in March, dozens of companies are now working on Zoom Apps integrations and the first batch of Zoom Apps demos and betas are now arriving.
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In a press release (opens in new tab) announcing the Zoom Apps Fund, founder and CEO of Zoom, Eric S. Yuan explained how it will help entrepreneurs build new businesses on the company's platform, saying:
“I founded Zoom in 2011, nearly ten years ago. Without the support of early investors, Zoom would not be what it is today. 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.”
Zoom Apps Fund
With the launch of the Zoom Apps Fund, the company is looking to make an initial investment of $250k to $2.5m in each portfolio company. However, this investment goes beyond capital as the company is committed to helping its partners succeed.
Zoom aims to reward innovation that benefits its users by working with global partners to build out its platform in new and exciting ways. However, the company is always open to working with interested and innovative new partners regardless of investment status.
Developers that are passionate about creating products and integrations that provide value to Zoom's customers can visit the Zoom Apps Fund website (opens in new tab) for more information and to apply.
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