Google bets big on the ecosystem assistant and now puts his money where he is. As the company announced today, it is launching a new program that will provide investment capital and other resources to startup startups that are creating applications in the marketplace. ecosystem of Google assistants.
In general, companies are announcing this type of program to launch an ecosystem around a new product. While developers have already launched many services for the Google assistant, the company says it's launching this new program to "further promote that creativity."
Google VP for Search and Google Assistant Nick Fox echoed this. "With the Google Assistant, we are focused on creating an open ecosystem for developers, device manufacturers and content partners to create new experiences," he said. he said. "We are already seeing a lot of developer creativity with the Google Assistant, and to help promote this, we are opening a new investment program for start-up startups."
Investments are a part of this program, but Google will also work with these startups directly to provide them with mentorship and advice from engineers, product managers and design experts. Startups in the program will also benefit from early access to new features and tools, as well as access to the Google Cloud Platform and promotional media. It sounds a bit like an accelerator program, although it's not quite what Google calls it.
Fox tells me that Google will not put a cap on investments. "We will invest as much as we want, and strive to help startups succeed in this emerging space," he said. "And we are not only offering capital investment, we look forward to partnering with these start-ups and leveraging the strengths of our business to help them market these products."
The first startups in this program include GoMoment, a concierge service for hotels, and Edwin, an English personal tutor, as well as BotSociety and Pulse Labs development tools.
These startups are good representatives of what Google is after. Fox tells me that Google is looking for startups that "are looking for an interesting space for Assistants, such as vertical industries like travel or games." In addition, Google is looking to deepen some of its partnerships, but for the most part , just look for startups that push technologies like the wizard.