At its F8 conference today, Facebook announced FbStart, a new program to help app developers by providing free tools and services “to get your app up and running fast.” FbStart includes two tracks: Boostrap (up to $5,000) and Accelerate (up to $30,000).
Developers attending F8 can apply immediately, and the program will be opened to all developers “in the coming weeks.” If selected, they will receive credits for Facebook advertising as well as Parse, plus free services from companies that deliver product testing, recruiting, customer care, video conferencing and document management.
The program wasn’t created by just Facebook. Partners include Parse (naturally), as well as Adobe, Appurify, Asan, BlueJeans, Salesforce Desk, MailChimp, Quip, Proto.io, Survey Monkey, userTesting, and Workable.
The Bootstrap Track is for developers just starting out. It includes a free package of tools and services worth up to $5,000, including:
- Access to Facebook Start to Success Program
- Parse credit
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Appurify testing suite
- Desk.com customer care tool
- Proto.io prototyping tool
- UserTesting UX research tool
- Workable recruitment tool
- Promotional Facebook ad credit for new spenders
The Accelerate Track is for developers who already have a thriving app, but want to tackle scaling. “We’ll give you what you need to turn it into a successful business,” Facebook says. This free package of tools and services is worth up to $30,000, including:
- Access to the Facebook Start to Success program
- Parse credit
- Priority access to Internet.org innovation lab
- Ad support from Facebook’s Preferred Marketing Developers
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Asana task tracking tool
- Appurify testing suite
- Bluejeans video collaboration service
- Desk.com customer care tool
- MailChimp email marketing support
- Proto.io prototyping tool
- SurveyMonkey account for research
- UserTesting UX research tool
- Document sharing with Quip
- Workable recruitment tool
- Promotional Facebook ad credit for new spenders
This is Facebook’s first foray into the world of boosting startups, and it’s unsurprisingly focused entirely on mobile. Any developer around the world with a public Android or iOS app can apply — the app doesn’t need to be integrated with Facebook.
Top Image Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/GettyImages
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