Oracle to provide mentorship, cloud services and support to startups in seven new hubs across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East

Oracle today (24 January 2017) announced the expansion of its Startup Cloud Accelerator program. The initiative will continue to fuel cloud-enabled innovation around the globe by opening new centres in Bristol, Delhi, Mumbai, Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Tel Aviv.

Run by members of the Oracle research and development team, the program provides six months of mentoring from technical and business experts, state-of-the-art technology, a co-working space, access to Oracle customers, partners and investors, and free Oracle Cloud credits. It also offers an ever-expanding global network of startup peers.

Rooted in its own entrepreneurial beginnings, Oracle believes that supporting invention and entrepreneurism among emerging companies is critical in furthering enterprise tech innovation.

The program, which began its Bangalore pilot in April 2016, will launch in the UK in 2017. Oracle will base its UK accelerator at Engine Shed in Bristol. It will work with organisations and institutions, such as the University of Bristol, its award-winning SETsquared business incubator and Invest Bristol and Bath, to drive innovation and re-imagine how enterprises help startups grow and contribute to the UK and global economies.

Dermot O’Kelly, senior vice president, Oracle UK and Ireland, said:

“Bristol has one of the most vibrant and exciting startup ecosystems around today. We will be working as part of this buoyant community to support local startups and nurture new waves of development and talent here in the UK, and ensure we continue to build upon the heritage we have in leading global innovation.”

Thomas Kurian, Oracle’s president of product development, said:

“After a successful launch in Bangalore, India, we’re committed to building a supportive ecosystem for startups across the globe. Cloud is enabling incredible innovations across every aspect of business and across every industry. We want to support this next wave of technology revolution being powered by cloud.”

With its modern cloud platform, optimized for high-performance, high I/O, and high availability, and breadth of platform services, Oracle has democratised enterprise-grade technology to support startups. Oracle’s full cloud stack provides startup developers with the building blocks to get started immediately and scale as they pivot, expand and change their businesses, whether they are three-tier or cloud native, scale up or scale out. With a global footprint, Oracle delivers more than 50 integrated cloud services to support companies of all sizes.

Julian David, CEO of techUK, said:

“Oracle’s support of the UK cloud ecosystem will be welcome news to startups across the UK. Increasing the adoption and use of cloud technologies is key not only to the growth of the IT sector, but also the digital transformation and expansion of organizations of all size in all industries across the economy. The tech supply chain often sees large and small companies working together to deliver innovative solutions that will help companies realize the full opportunities the cloud has to offer.”

Oracle Senior Vice President of Product Development Reggie Bradford, a serial entrepreneur himself, will lead the program expansion.

Bradford said:

“The next five to ten years promise innovations and growth that will drive new business ideas enabled by the cloud. Oracle understands that startups are at the heart of innovation, and through this program we aim to give startups access to extensive resources and support when they need it most.”

The Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator is open to early-stage technology and technology-enabled startups. The call for applications will open later in 2017. Interested startups can sign up to receive more information at www.oracle.com/startup.