WebProNews

Amazon Web Services, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, has launched the Amazon Web Services Start-Up Challenge, a contest for entrepreneurs and software developers in which the winner will receive $50,000 in cash, $50,000 in Amazon Web Service (AWS) credits and an investment offer from Amazon.

Four second- place winners will receive $5,000 in AWS credits and all qualified participants will receive $25 in AWS credits. Amazon will judge entries on originality and how they use the pay-as-you-go technology from AWS.

"Of the many things that have surprised us along the way, perhaps the biggest has been how quickly so many start-ups have started using AWS. The fact that our services have no up-front costs and are pay-as-you go allows small businesses to focus on innovating and growing, instead of on raising capital and engaging in the heavy lifting needed to build out a back-end infrastructure," said Adam Selipsky, Vice President of Product Development and Developer Relations, Amazon Web Services.

Contestants must submit the online application by October 28,2007. Five finalists will be announced in early November. Each one will be profiled in an online video on the AWS Web site where registered developers will be able to vote on which finalist they think is the best. The winner will be announced in December.

To be eligible for the contest individuals need to be residents of the U.S. or privately held companies based in the U.S. that have not generated more than $10 million in annual revenue.