Bengaluru, October 19: In what is believed to be a major boost to India’s growing startup and developer community, Atlassian Corporation, Australia's leading software firm on Monday announced the launch of Atlassian Ventures. The new $50 million global fund aims to invest startups, including established companies that are already building products in its ecosystem. This leading firm in Australia, which set up a research and development centre in Bengaluru last year with plans to expand it further, said it is keen to nurture India's vibrant startup ecosystem and rich technical talent pool.

Dinesh Ajmera, Site Lead and Head of Engineering, Bengaluru, Atlassian said that with India's cloud market among the largest in the Asia Pacific region, the firm believe this fund will be an ideal opportunity for up-and-coming startups in India to access funding when building apps for our cloud products. "India is a significant market for Atlassian, one that's teeming with an extraordinary developer community and a vibrant startup ecosystem that we plan to tap into," Ajmera added.

According to reports, the company's software products such as Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello are used by 1,74,000 customers worldwide, including Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart, to name a few. Atlassian Ventures will invest in three types of companies.

Ajmera informed that firstly, the early-stage startups which are building apps for any of Atlassian's cloud products and secondly, the larger, more established ecosystem product partners who are ascaling their businesses and finally, the existing sales channel partners who are looking to step up their cloud services and create new products that support the future of teamwork. “As part of this programme, companies that receive funding are also eligible for mentorship as well as global exposure at Atlassian events," he said.