In an attempt to boost the growth of its growing ecosystem of integrations, Zoom has announced the Zoom Apps Fund in April. The fund will amount to a total of $100 million. It will be used to make investments in startups that will be able to support Zoom’s growth. Zoom witnessed a large growth during the pandemic. It is now thinking of ways to preserve its increased growth and to achieve more. The company has announced the first list of startups that it will make investments in.
When we say that Zoom’s popularity rose during the pandemic, it is proved by looking at the increasing valuation of the company in the last one and a half years. The valuation has more than tripled during this time. The change in work environments and promotion of remote work contributed to its growth. The cloud infrastructure spending and software helped workforce functions to remain almost normal. The company has planned on building an ecosystem of companies on top of the Zoom platform. In October Zoom Apps platform was launched. Through this platform, developers can integrate their apps into Zoom.
This is not the first time Zoom has invested in startups but it was not as a proactive investor. In order to receive the Apps Fund investment, startups must register on the platform and give a demo showcasing a market-ready product. The product must be built for Zoom and should have attracted some traction. If approved, they can receive funds worth $250,000 to $2.5 million in equity funding. After announcing the project in April, Zoom has delivered its funds to 12 companies that engage in various fields such as collaboration and productivity, community and charity, diversity, equity, inclusion, and people operations, gaming, and entertainment. Two of the companies’ names that Zoom invested in are not revealed.
