Emergence Capital, Horizons Ventures, Maven Ventures, and Sequoia Launch Zoom Developer Pitch Competition

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Emergence Capital, Horizons Ventures, Maven Ventures, and Sequoia Capital – all investors in Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM – together announced at Zoomtopia 2019 a joint pitch competition for startups to develop on the Zoom platform. The competition will focus on early-stage startup companies leveraging Zoom's video-first unified communications platform and serves a dual purpose: to provide developers the opportunity to grow their reach and users, and to add value and happiness to Zoom customers by producing high-quality apps. 

Up to 10 finalists will receive the opportunity to pitch partners at Emergence Capital, Horizons Ventures, Maven Ventures, and Sequoia. The final selected winner would be eligible to potentially receive up to $2 million in funding from these leading venture firms. They would also receive an advisory session with senior Zoom product experts, priority development support from the Zoom platform team, a DTEN D7 55" all-in-one interactive whiteboard with a 3-year Zoom Rooms license, and 10 Zoom Pro licenses for 3 years – totaling over $11,000 in MSRP. Submissions will be accepted October 15, 2019 through March 31, 2020 and the winner will be announced in spring 2020 at the Zoom Developer Summit.

The Zoom App Marketplace, which boasts over 160 integrations and more than 200 million API calls a month, brings together integrations built by Zoom and third-party developers, making it easy for customers and developers to extend Zoom's product portfolio with new functionalities. Apps in Zoom's marketplace are vetted by Zoom for security and user experience. The marketplace features apps and bots from top technology companies. Now, teaming with leading venture capital firms, Zoom is seeking to find the next big app that its customers will love. 

"The Zoom App Marketplace has opened up endless opportunities to connect new apps and services together to improve the way teams meet and communicate. Today, Emergence is incredibly excited to join forces with Sequoia, Maven, Horizons, and the Zoom team to encourage and support the developer community to build the next generation of greatness from the ground up and bring to life new ideas - creativity, innovation and problem-solving - that will continue to deliver happiness to every new and existing Zoom user," said Santi Subotovsky, general partner at Emergence Capital and Zoom board member. "We've seen impressive success with companies like ServiceMax that were born from a like-minded competition, so we are incredibly excited to see the labors of this community effort."

"Having worked with Zoom from the early days, I know what a small, talented team can accomplish. That's why I was so excited to partner with my fellow venture capitalists and Zoom to bring this opportunity to startup developers to create new apps in this fast-growing and popular marketplace," said Bart Swanson, advisor for Horizons Ventures and Zoom board member.

"Maven Ventures is thrilled to partner with Zoom, Emergence Capital, Horizons, and Sequoia to find and fund the next billion-dollar businesses built on top of the Zoom App Marketplace," said Jim Scheinman, founding managing partner, Maven Ventures. "This is a truly special opportunity for developers to get in early on the newest, most exciting, and fastest growing app marketplace today. Just like Apple, Google, Salesforce, and others have shown, massive businesses can be launched on app marketplaces. I expect the Zoom App Marketplace will provide the same successful platform for rapid growth."

"Zoom's unified communications platform provides expansive opportunities for developers to leverage. Its massive adoption can also help boost the reach and profile of any app in Zoom's marketplace," said Carl Eschenbach, partner at Sequoia and Zoom board member. "We are excited to help more emerging developers get their solutions to a larger market while continuing to build a robust ecosystem around the Zoom platform." 

"The Zoom App Marketplace is vital for both the success of Zoom as a platform and the happiness of our customers. The apps created and shared here provide an incredible value to our end users and administrators alike, from those that everyone can use like calendaring services to those specifically designed to meet the needs of lines of business like marketing and sales," said Oded Gal, chief product officer at Zoom. "We are thrilled that our valued venture partners have come together to encourage further development of innovative solutions on the Zoom platform. We look forward to seeing the incredible new ideas the developer community has in store!"

Interested developers should visit marketplace.zoom.us/competition. Criteria for consideration include the app concept leveraging the Zoom platform and delivering happiness to Zoom users. Additional criteria and competition rules can be found at the link above. 

About Zoom
Zoom Video Communications, Inc. ZM brings teams together to get more done in a frictionless video environment. Our easy, reliable, and innovative video-first unified communications platform provides video meetings, voice, webinars, and chat across desktops, phones, mobile devices, and conference room systems. Zoom helps enterprises create elevated experiences with leading business app integrations and developer tools to create customized workflows. Founded in 2011, Zoom is headquartered in San Jose, California, with offices around the world. Visit zoom.com and follow @zoom_us. 

About Emergence Capital
Emergence Capital is the leading venture capital firm focused on early-stage enterprise companies. Its mission is to be the most valuable partner to the most important companies that are changing the way the world works. In 2017, the firm was named Venture Firm of the Year by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The firm's investments include companies such as Salesforce (CRM), Veeva Systems (VEEV), Box (BOX), SuccessFactors (SFSF, acquired by SAP), Yammer (acquired by Microsoft), Zoom, ServiceMax (acquired by GE) and Intaact (acquired by Sage). For more information on Emergence Capital, visit http://www.emcap.com and follow @emergencecapital.

About Horizons Ventures
Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Mr. Li Ka-shing, is a leading investor in some of the world's most innovative companies and disruptive technologies including Spotify, Siri, Zoom, Improbable, Impossible Foods and Perfect Day. For more information on Horizons Ventures, please visit horizonsventures.com.

About Maven Ventures
Maven Ventures is the leading seed-stage venture capital fund investing in software startups used by millions of consumers everyday to make their lives better. We invest in bold founders with a "vision worth fighting for" and the potential to build billion-dollar businesses that will improve the world. Select investments include Zoom (IPO), Cruise Automation (Acquired by GM), Chariot (Acquired by Ford), and many more. Find more information at www.mavenventures.com and read more about our latest Maven Fund III in Forbes.

About Sequoia 
Sequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies from idea to IPO and beyond. We spur founders to push the boundaries of what's possible. In partnering with Sequoia, companies benefit from 47 years of tribal knowledge from working with founders like Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Jan Koum, Brian Chesky, Drew Houston, Adi Tatarko, Julia Hartz and Jack Dorsey. In aggregate, Sequoia-backed companies account for more than 20% of NASDAQ's total value. From the beginning, the vast majority of money we invest has been on behalf of non-profits and schools like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT, which means founders' accomplishments make a meaningful difference. 

Press Contact
Priscilla Barolo
Manager, Communications for Zoom
priscilla.barolo@zoom.us