WSO2 launches a new program to help startups build better apps faster and cheaper

If you’re a startup founder with a brilliant idea for an app, you might think that all you need is a laptop, a coding platform and a lot of coffee. But in the cloud era, where everything is connected, scalable and data-driven, building an app is not that simple. You also need to design, test, deploy, secure and manage your app across different platforms and devices. And that can be a daunting task for startups that have limited resources and expertise.

That’s why WSO2, a leading provider of digital transformation technology, has launched WSO2 for Startups, a program that aims to empower new app-building businesses across the world to accelerate their journeys to success. The program offers early-stage startups access to WSO2’s core offerings, Choreo and Asgardeo, which provide all the technology an organization needs to get its operations off the ground. The program also provides sample apps, product credits, support and mentorship by a dedicated solutions architect.

“We designed WSO2 for startups with a view to accelerating time-to-market,” said Kanchana Wickremasinghe, VP and GM of WSO2’s Choreo business unit, in an interview with VentureBeat. “Developers can reuse our B2C and B2B sample app code that has all the out-of-the-box functionality needed to create a secure cloud-native experience for users.”

A comprehensive solution for building cloud-native apps

The program offers up to $18,000 in Choreo credits and $15,000 in Asgardeo credits to help startups offset infrastructure and licensing costs as they build their apps. WSO2 is also providing mentoring services, including one-on-one sessions with a senior architect to advise startups on architecture and technology decisions.

“What we have done in terms of Choreo [is] we have put together the key tooling [so] that they don’t really need to learn in any particular cloud,” said Wickremasinghe. “It could be AWS, it could be Azure, it could be GCP [where] they can build their application.”

The program encourages startups to use Ballerina, WSO2’s open-source cloud-native programming language designed specifically for integration and cloud app development.

“We have seen these teams who are even doing low-code development, using Ballerina they save roughly … 30 to 40% of the time during the integration,” said Wickremasinghe.

The launch of this program signals WSO2’s continued focus on emerging companies and developers, as more businesses adopt cloud platforms and API-driven architectures. By offering its technology via credits and mentoring, WSO2 aims to become a strategic partner for startups looking to build and deliver innovative apps faster.

Accelerated app development

WSO2 is looking for five to 10 really good startups that can benefit from WSO2 for Startups and raise their funds. The program is open for applications from early-stage startups building mobile or web apps for consumers, businesses or employees.

According to Gartner, the worldwide public cloud services market grew 26.2% in 2021, reaching $396 billion. The infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market, which includes platforms like Choreo, grew 41.4% in 2021, reaching $90.9 billion, and is dominated by the top five providers, which account for over 80% of the market.

Wickremasinghe knows what it takes to be a successful startup founder. He was the cofounder and CEO of Platformer Cloud, a cloud-native application platform that was acquired by WSO2 in 2019. He said that he learned from his own experience that it takes about six to 12 months to get an MVP (minimum viable product) in front of customers and validate the product with the market. He also said that he wanted to give startups enough credits to run their applications for that period without worrying about the costs.

“Try not to build everything,” he said. “Focus on what you want to really get out, and utilize our credits and the mentoring system to the maximum in building that outcome.”

WSO2 is an open-source, API-first company that offers software that runs on-premises and in the cloud. Founded in 2005, WSO2 enables thousands of enterprises, including hundreds of the world’s largest corporations, top universities and governments, to drive their digital transformation journeys — executing more than 60 trillion transactions and managing over 1 billion identities annually.