My Startup World speaks with Sam Tayan, Managing Director at Zoom in the Middle East and Africa, about the recently launched Zoom Apps Fund, which intends to revolutionize the way Zoom customers meet, collaborate and communicate using the rapidly expanding platform

 What is Zoom aiming to achieve from this initiative and is there any other program or initiative that Zoom is running for startups besides the newly launched fund?

Our newly launched Zoom Apps Fund will invest in portfolio companies looking to revolutionize the way Zoom customers meet, collaborate, and communicate using our rapidly expanding platform. This is an exciting milestone for Zoom, our partners, and our customers. We now have dozens of companies working on Zoom Apps integrations, and as we see the first batch of Zoom Apps demos and betas, it’s clear to us how powerful this engagement model will be. It has also become clear that there is a massive opportunity right now for innovation with the potential to reach and impact millions of customers in a brand-new way. That’s the inspiration behind the Zoom Apps Fund.

Our ecosystem of Zoom Apps, integrations, video and client SDKs, and hardware all play a role in creating frictionless, engaging, collaborative, and even fun Zoom experiences. We’re committed to fostering growth across our ecosystem and supporting our developer community to bring the best and most innovative ideas to life for our customers. In addition to the Zoom Apps Fund, we also provide a range of training and resources targeted at entrepreneurs and start-ups on our platform.

What are the key qualification criteria and how can budding entrepreneurs reach you to gain from this opportunity?

Currently, we’re looking for companies creating products that are a solid fit for our Zoom ecosystem and provide value to our customers. Companies should have a viable product and early market traction to be considered. We expect to make investment decisions monthly and the initial funding will range between $250,000 and $2.5 million.

While we are predominantly series-agnostic, we’re mostly focusing on startups in the Series A seeding stage. Most importantly, we’ve got a vision to help people accomplish more through video communications, and we’re looking for companies that share that vision. These entrepreneurs should demonstrate commitment to developing on and investing in the Zoom ecosystem (including Zoom Apps, integrations, APIs, SDKs, and hardware).

A Zoom investment goes beyond capital. We are truly committed to working with our Zoom Apps partners and developers to bring your products to market and ultimately provide value to our customers. Interested entrepreneurs can conveniently apply to become a Zoom Apps Fund partner by filling out the application form: https://explore.zoom.us/docs/en-us/fund/apply.html

What kind of startups does this fund intend to support?

The Zoom Apps fund is aimed at funding innovative companies inspired to build the next big thing in the Zoom platform ecosystem. We’re looking at supporting startups developing apps and integrations to make communications more engaging, productive, effective, and even fun. Zoom Apps bring best-of-breed applications into the Zoom experience for seamless productivity and engaging experiences. Our Apps fund aims to aid Zoom Developer Partners. Companies can utilize the Zoom Developer Platform, which equips developers with the tools to build applications & integrations on top of Zoom’s video-first unified communications platform, that spans video, voice, content sharing, and chat. This way they can develop powerful custom integrations & new functionalities that enrich Zoom experiences and virtual interactions.

Through our open platform, developers can leverage APIs, SDKs, and more. Our developer partners can build public apps available to hundreds of millions of global users on the Zoom App Marketplace, or private apps for internal business use.

How conducive is the overall environment for startups in the Middle East and Africa?

This region presents significant potential for innovation and entrepreneurship. Many young startups in different sectors have found success as they continue to push the boundaries of transformation. Startups based on digital technologies in particular stand to benefit immensely as the region experiences a digital revolution. Moreover, authorities in the region have also made it considerably easy to set up businesses. Some cities such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, among many others have established themselves as regional start-up hubs, empowering young entrepreneurs to get their ideas off the ground and attain their goals. The well-connected and tech-savvy young population in the region also presents an attractive customer base and this further encourages tech-startups to launch exciting ventures. Thus, the MEA region is one of the most promising and favourable environments for startups, empowering enterprises to create new growth opportunities.

 Entrepreneurs and startups from which countries in MEA can join this initiative?

The Zoom Apps Fund is open to entrepreneurs across the globe. The objective of this fund is to support entrepreneurs who are committed to building exciting experiences for our customers and we’re making this opportunity available to entrepreneurs all over the world.

What message does Zoom have to offer to the budding entrepreneurs?

Ten years ago, Zoom was a startup. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of our early investors. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary this year, the Zoom Apps Fund is our commitment to supporting developer partners and stimulating the growth of the Zoom ecosystem. Through this fund, we aspire to invest thoughtfully in teams committed to building new and positive experiences for our customers. Our goal is to enable companies to successfully launch a business and facilitate their growth. We’re looking forward to rewarding innovation that benefits Zoom users and working with global partners to build our platform in new and exciting ways.

We are looking for passionate entrepreneurs who are looking to create products and integrations that provide value to our customers, helping them communicate more easily, meet happier, and be more productive.