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Building a small start-up into a business with a truly international presence can feel like an insurmountable task and many entrepreneurs must wish they had access to the resources of the tech industry’s biggest players. Well it seems those wishes have come true: e-commerce giant Amazon has announced Launchpad, a venture that combines an accelerator with a marketplace to help start-ups boost their profile and reach millions of new customers.
Launchpad will help scale start-ups with innovative products by offering an onboarding experience, custom product pages, marketing assistance and access to Amazon’s international fulfilment network. And Amazon has also gotten some big names on board to help fund Launchpad start-ups, teaming up with over 25 VCs, accelerators and crowdfunding platforms including the likes of Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and Indiegogo.
While Amazon’s custom product pages will enable start-ups to tell their stories and engage customers with videos and imagery, the tech giant will also give them access to its marketing toolkit. This will allow start-ups to benefit from merchandised placements, personalised recommendations and participation in the Amazon Vine customer reviews program. Finally, Launchpad will help start-ups extend their international reach by providing cost-effective supply chain solutions and marketing support in more than ten Amazon marketplaces across the globe.
“As the pace of innovation continues to increase within the start-up community, we want to help customers discover these unique products and learn the inspiration behind them,” said Jim Adkins, vice president of Amazon. “ We also know from talking to start-ups that bringing a new product to market successfully can be just as challenging as building it. Amazon Launchpad gives customers access to a dedicated storefront featuring a variety of innovative new products from emerging brands.”
“With Amazon Launchpad, we are reinforcing our commitment to help bring physical products to a wide audience,” added Luke Iseman, partner at Y Combinator. “This program will help our hardware start-ups get in front of more users than ever before.”
“By partnering with Amazon Launchpad, Indiegogo entrepreneurs gain instant access to Amazon’s powerful distribution capabilities and massive audience,” said Slava Rubin, co-founder and CEO of Indiegogo. “I’m excited to see how this unique partnership enables start-ups to accelerate their growth and share their innovative products with the world.”
So if you’ve got a start-up you’d like to launch into the stratosphere, head over to the Launchpad site and sign up. 
