Can you introduce Azursafe, its industry, mission and values?

The blockchain sector has been growing steadily for several years, bringing both new opportunities and complex challenges, including stricter regulations in Europe and beyond. In this evolving landscape, AzurSafe was founded with a clear mission to support blockchain companies, financial institutions, fraud victims, analytics partners, security researchers, and law enforcement agencies in one shared goal: Making Blockchain Safer.

We develop and offer transaction analysis and monitoring solutions, to identify malicious activity using intelligent and innovative technologies.

Quickly gaining the support of the French government and several key partners, AzurSafe has established itself as a trusted player in the sector, earning recognition from private and public financial institutions for its innovative solutions which bring a real added value both in operational and regulatory terms.

What were specific challenges you faced before joining OVHcloud’s Blockchain Accelerator?

Deploying such complex and advanced solutions requires significant logistics in all areas, whether technical or business. Like any ambitious start-up, AzurSafe needs to respond to these challenges as part of its development.

On the technical side, we have to manage and orchestrate dozens of services, from massive data flows to the various characteristics that define each blockchain, then process and analyze all of this while offering a near-instantaneous service, because on the blockchain, every second counts when it comes to preventing fraud.

Why did you decide to explore cloud solutions to overcome these obstacles?

As our solution progressed, we realized that we needed to manage more and more features, then orient the infrastructure so it’s modular as we went along, while maintaining high availability, security standards, and data management without blowing our budget, inevitably linked to our business challenges.

After using other cloud services, we immediately understood the relevance of OVHcloud’s offering. What’s more, we offer a sovereign solution to those who want it (SecNumCloud), so the choice was easy.

How did OVHcloud and the Startup Program help you overcome these challenges?

After two years of intense R&D, we were reassured after benchmarking against the current state of the art and quickly realized that our technology had the same technical capabilities, and even better ones. But that wasn’t all it took to deploy a solution of this kind on the market.

We needed to dig deeper and better understand our environment and the distribution of our solutions and technologies in an ecosystem that was already formed with established players requiring equally established solutions. Participating in inspiring industry exchanges and receiving support throughout our deployment greatly contributed to our success.

Which OVHcloud services or features do you use, and how do they stand out from other solutions?

For our part, we use almost all (or nearly all) Public Cloud services, which stand out from other solutions thanks to their simplicity, performance, and competitive pricing.

How has OVHcloud’s support helped you evolve your infrastructure to meet the demands of your business?

Their support has been very useful in various cases, thanks to the organization of workshops, mentoring, and infrastructure support.

What tangible results have you achieved since collaborating with OVHcloud? How have these results helped to accelerate your growth or improve your product/service offering?

Not to mention the ease of use, which saves time, the costs are at least half those of well-known American providers.

How have these results helped to accelerate your growth or improve your product/service offering?

The program has enabled us to better understand our environment and the industry in which we operate, by combining technical and business support.

Future Vision: What are your ambitions for the future of your startup, and how do you see it evolving within the cloud ecosystem?

Current technologies, as well as the various legal and illegal activities involving blockchain, are still in their infancy. It is easy to predict that they will evolve in the coming years, creating new opportunities but also complex challenges. We do not operate directly on the blockchain, but we must monitor it and evolve with it. Our infrastructure and services must be resilient, and the cloud remains the best alternative for our customers who do not want on-premise software.

What future challenges do you foresee, and how do you see the cloud playing a role in solving them?

The volume of data and the number of protocols and services built on decentralized technologies continue to grow rapidly. Yet, they still rely on essential solutions such as RPC nodes, interface hosting, and advanced platforms like ours to operate safely.

The risks are real and can affect everyone. Security is no longer an option in today’s digital age, and increasingly secure solutions will be necessary. The cloud is an excellent candidate for the coming years, provided it is used correctly.

What advice would you give to other growth-stage startups considering the cloud or joining a support program?

Go for it, you have so much to gain!

Conclusions

AzurSafe has recently reached a new milestone, surpassing $90 billion in transaction value monitored across more than 30 blockchains, highlighting emerging fraud trends and providing real-time insights using advanced AI and ML technologies that demonstrate unrivalled accuracy.

The precision of our fraud detection tools has been approved, audited, battle-tested and endorsed by experts in the financial and investigative industries. But this is only the beginning, and we are preparing huge projects that will completely redefine the landscape on an international scale.

We are surpassing ourselves at every stage to create a more secure blockchain and we would like to thank OVHcloud, our webhost for several years, for this great opportunity and for joining us in revolutionising this industry. We invite anyone who wants to contribute to join us as well.

If you’re a startup looking to transform your business, we encourage you to join the OVHcloud Startup Program or contact OVHcloud to discover how our solutions can support your journey!

Can you introduce Cryptomate, its industry, mission and values?

CryptoMate was founded by a team with deep experience in Fintech, Banking, Crypto, and Academia. We are capitalizing on a massive shift we identified: just as traditional fintech evolved from single services to Super Apps and finally to Embedded Finance, blockchain is now in its 3rd Wave.

This 3rd Wave moves past simple exchanges and TradFi apps to Embedded Stablecoins and AI Agents, allowing any company to offer sophisticated, global financial services.

Our mission is driven by a core belief: “no single bank fits everyone’s hand.” We are building the toolkit for a “constellation of micro-fintechs” across emerging markets. We believe financial inclusion must be profitable for local entrepreneurs to scale from the bottom up, rather than a top-down, high-cost model.

This vision is not theoretical; it’s a proven business model. We are already serving clients in 12+ countries. Our focus on providing real tools for local entrepreneurs has fueled a 10x increase in the last year, putting us on track to cross $100 Million in annualized transaction volume.

We have the team, we have the traction, and we are leading this new, decentralized financial revolution.

Guido De Luca (CTO) and Alan Boryszanski (CEO), co-founders of Cryptomate.

What were specific challenges you faced before joining OVHcloud’s Blockchain Accelerator?

Before the accelerator, our challenges were a direct result of our rapid 10x growth.

Technical: Our hybrid infrastructure (using one hyperscaler and one challenger) was becoming a bottleneck. We were running high-frequency financial processing, real-time AI agents, and deposit detection engines through multiple blockchain networks on systems that were difficult to scale. We faced performance issues and security complexities trying to manage both bare metal and managed cloud services at $100M in transaction volume.

Operational: We needed to deploy in new regions (Asia, Africa) for our clients, but our current setup made global, low-latency deployment slow and complex.

Financial: Our other provider’s costs were becoming unpredictable and a major budget drain. We needed a solution that offered the power of bare metal for our core processing without the punishing, variable costs of hyperscalers.

How did OVHcloud and the Startup Program help you overcome these challenges?

OVHcloud and its Startup Program were the direct solution to our scalability, cost, and performance crises.

Bare Metal servers are our key differentiator. They give us the raw, dedicated processing power needed for our financial engine and AI agents, something that was prohibitively expensive on our other hyperscaler provider. We get 100% of the CPU/RAM, which is critical for security and low-latency in our MPC wallet operations.

Predictable pricing was the biggest financial win. We’ve eliminated the unpredictable, variable costs of hyperscalers. Now our infrastructure budget is a fixed, manageable operational expense, allowing us to scale without fear.

We use vRack to build a secure, private global network connecting our nodes in Europe and North America, with a clear path to Asia. This solved our global deployment challenge.

The Startup Program’s support and credits were vital, giving us the financial breathing room to migrate and optimize our complex architecture without disrupting our 10x growth.

What tangible results have you achieved since collaborating with OVHcloud? How have these results helped to accelerate your growth or improve your product/service offering?

The results have been transformative. Since migrating to OVHcloud, we’ve reduced our monthly infrastructure costs by over 30%, moving from unpredictable hyperscaler bills to a fixed, manageable budget.

Crucially, by leveraging dedicated bare metal servers, we’ve increased our transaction processing speed by 50%. This isn’t just a metric; it’s a critical enabler. It allows us to securely handle our $100M annualized transaction volume and run our complex AI agents with the low latency our clients demand.

This collaboration directly accelerated our 10x growth. We now have a stable, high-performance global foundation, giving us the confidence to onboard larger clients and expand into new regions without fearing performance bottlenecks or budget overruns.

What are your ambitions for the future of your startup, and how do you see it evolving within the cloud ecosystem?

Our ambition is to become the global operating system for our “constellation of micro-fintechs,” scaling from $100M to billions in transaction volume.

Our future challenges are threefold: massive global scale, the heavy compute power required for our AI agents, and navigating complex data sovereignty laws as we enter new markets in Africa and Asia.

OVHcloud is our partner for sustainable success. Its powerful bare metal servers provide the cost-efficient engine for our AI and core transactions. Crucially, its global network and focus on data sovereignty give us a secure, compliant, and predictable foundation to scale globally, ensuring our future growth is both fast and financially stable.

What advice would you give to other growth-stage startups considering the cloud or joining a support program?

First, challenge your cloud stack. Don’t just default to the big hyperscalers because it’s easy. As you scale, their variable costs can kill your margins. For core, high-performance workloads—like our financial engine—dedicated bare metal servers provided us with 50% more speed at 30% less cost. Control your infrastructure economics before they control you.

Second, use startup programs for their expertise, not just their credits. The credits from the OVHcloud Startup Program were great, but it was their expert support in migrating our complex, high-volume architecture that was invaluable. Find a partner who invests in your success and understands your specific technical needs.

Conclusions

OVHcloud was the key to solving our scaling crisis. We cut our infrastructure costs by 30% and boosted transaction performance by 50% by migrating from unpredictable hyperscalers to their powerful bare metal servers. This partnership gave us the stable, cost-predictable foundation necessary to handle $100M in transaction volume and power our global AI.

Don’t let infrastructure costs limit your growth. We strongly urge other startups to join the OVHcloud Startup Program. Contact their team to build your own foundation for sustainable success.

If you’re a startup looking to transform your business, we encourage you to join the OVHcloud Startup Program or contact OVHcloud to discover how our solutions can support your journey!

This accelerator has been a game-changer for the 16 startups that participated. The program’s focus on technical guidance, business strategy, and mentoring has yielded impressive results, with participants such as CryptoMate and AzurSafe achieving significant milestones and successes.

“OVHcloud was the direct solution to our scalability, cost, and performance crises. Bare Metal servers are our key differentiator, giving us the raw, dedicated processing power needed for our financial engine and AI agents,” said Alan Boryszanski, co-Founder of CryptoMate. “The Startup Program’s support and credits were vital, giving us the financial breathing room to migrate and optimize our complex architecture without disrupting our 10x growth.”

Similarly, AzurSafe has surpassed $90 billion in transaction value monitored across more than 30 blockchains, highlighting emerging fraud trends and providing real-time insights using advanced AI and ML technologies. “The precision of our fraud detection tools has been approved, audited, battle-tested, and endorsed by experts in the financial and investigative industries,” said Sam Dabiri, Founder and CEO of AzurSafe. “We are preparing huge projects that will completely redefine the landscape on an international scale.”

Kavodax, another participant, has launched in 30 countries and is in discussions with VCs involved with the Accelerator.

We would like to extend our gratitude to our partners who made this program possible, including Alchemy, Degen House, Crypto Mondays London, Super Team Solana, Fintech District, and Dysnix as well as the delivery partners Link Innovations and Empact Ventures. Their expertise and support have been invaluable to the success of our participants.

In fact, Dysnix has already been able to deliver tangible value to Mira Network, another participant. Dysnix is providing DevOps services to Mira Network to aid their migration from another hyperscaler in a short timeframe, following an infrastructure audit. The outcome of this collaboration has been better infrastructure scalability and significant cost optimisation.

“The OVHcloud Startup Program Fast Forward Blockchain and Web3 accelerator has been a resounding success, and we are proud to have played a role in the growth and development of these innovative startups,” said Philip Marais, Global Startup Program Director at OVHcloud. “Our program is designed to provide founders with the acceleration they need through unique go-to-market support to allow them to thrive in the blockchain and Web3 ecosystem, and we are thrilled to see the impact it has had on our participants.”

“The blockchain and Web3 ecosystem is rapidly evolving, and it’s essential for startups to have the right support and resources to succeed,” said Omar Abi Issa, Global Sales Director for Blockchain, Web3 and AI at OVHcloud. “Our program is committed to providing the necessary tools and expertise to help startups overcome the complex challenges of this landscape and achieve their full potential.”

As we look to the future, we are excited to continue supporting the growth and development of blockchain and Web3 startups through our OVHcloud Startup Program. With our expertise, resources, and network of partners, we are confident that we can help these innovative companies achieve their full potential and make a lasting impact on the industry.

Look out for future blog articles covering interviews with our Blockchain and Web3 Accelerator participants or find out more about the Startup Program below.

If you’re a startup looking to transform your business, we encourage you to join the OVHcloud Startup Program or contact OVHcloud to discover how our solutions can support your journey!

Meet the 16 Selected Startups

The 16 startups selected for the Blockchain & Web3 Accelerator are:

1. ARZE, an AI-powered ERP suite composed of three integrated tools: payroll, invoicing, and back-office business intelligence.
2. Kavodax Inc, a blockchain-powered B2B cross-border payment platform.
3. Kross Blockchain, Africa’s first smart contract layer 1 chain and Nigeria’s first blockchain.
4. Mira Network AG, a Swiss-based blockchain ecosystem revolutionizing how communities fund, earn from, and participate in real-world businesses.
5. KALICERTIF, a blockchain-based certification platform for digital assets and identity verification.
6. tokenforge GmbH, a white-label platform for tokenizing real-world assets in a fully compliant and scalable.
7. Insurechain SL, offering a modular and interoperable infrastructure designed to simplify and accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology across industries.
8. AzurSafe, providing advanced transactional analytics solutions for enterprises and financial institutions to help them fight fraud.
9. Credshields technologies, a Web3 cybersecurity tooling company.
10. CryptoMate, a blockchain-based platform for effortless global transactions.
11. Huralya, a blockchain-based platform for anonymous sign-ins and crypto payments for easy subscriptions.
12. Pirichain Technology, a blockchain-based data ecosystem designed for secure data storage, management, and analysis.
13. Sollpay, a next-generation non-custodial wallet and payment platform.
14. Vizyon France, a decentralized teleradiology platform.
15. AYUMIA, a blockchain-based platform for secure and transparent food tracking and tracing.
16. Epoch Protocol, a coordination layer for intent solvers – tools designed to analyze and understand the intent behind smart contract code or blockchain transactions.

“The Blockchain & Web3 Accelerator is a unique opportunity for innovative blockchain startups to accelerate their growth, develop their solutions, and connect with a strong network of partners and investors. We are excited to support the growth and development of these promising startups and look forward to seeing the impact they will make in the blockchain industry,” says Philip Marais, Global Startup Program Director, OVHcloud.

Meet the Partners

The Blockchain & Web3 Accelerator is supported by well-known industry partners, including:

1. Alchemy, a blockchain development platform for building and deploying blockchain applications.
2. Degen House, helping to build projects on the Solana blockchain and bring them to market.
3. Crypto Mondays London, a blockchain community for networking and education.
4. Super Team Solana, a community of the best talent learning, earning and building in crypto.
5. Fintech District, an open ecosystem created to aggregate the Italian financial services industry and to spread fintech culture and innovation.
6. Dysnix, offering full-cycle DevOps & MLOps for seed+ and high-growth companies.

These partners will provide valuable guidance, mentorship, and resources to the participating startups throughout the Accelerator.

Accelerator Program Overview

The Blockchain & Web3 Accelerator program is designed to support the growth and development of the selected startups. The program will consist of three phases:

1. Phase I – Go-to-Market
   Focused on refining your product-market fit, marketing, and go-to-market strategy. Participants work with our team to sharpen your positioning and business foundations.
2. Phase II – Build
   Deep dive into blockchain technology and cloud integration. Participants collaborate with our Web3 and technical teams to optimize your infrastructure and unlock the full potential of OVHcloud solutions.
3. Phase III – Scale
   Prepare for investor engagement and scalable growth. This phase includes sales strategy and investor readiness.

“As a former startup, OVHcloud understands what founders and their teams need, but as a global organisation which shares blockchain’s ethos of decentralisation, transparency and security, OVHcloud is in a unique position to help nurture and support the growth of tomorrow’s blockchain champions. We look forward to meeting latest group of companies participating in our accelerator,” says Omar Abi Issa, Global Sales Director, Blockchain, Web3 and AI, OVHcloud.

The program will culminate with a Showcase event, which is part of the OVHcloud Partner Network Summit on 20 November 2025, where the 16 participating startups will pitch their solutions to an audience of investors, OVHcloud customers and partners, and industry experts.

To participate in the action, sign up to attend the Showcase event virtually or as part of the OVHcloud Partner Network Summit:

I want to attend the Showcase in Paris on 20 November!

I want to attend the Showcase virtually on 20 November!

If you’re a startup looking to transform your business, we encourage you to join the OVHcloud Startup Program or contact OVHcloud to discover how our solutions can support your journey!

The key to achieving this vision lies with YOU, our valued members of OVHcloud’s unique data sovereign ecosystem, including startups, scaleups, incubators, accelerators, venture capital companies, government agencies, technology partners, and other enablers. Together, we are united around a common vision of data freedom, innovation, and mutual growth.

Global Report 2025: 10 Years of Impact

To capture the essence of our unique ecosystem, we have compiled a comprehensive report, “Global Report 2025 – 10 Years of Impact”. This report showcases key stories from our ecosystem, including:

• Our support for Harfanglab, a French scaleup that’s developed cutting-edge technologies to anticipate and neutralise cyberattacks, raising almost €30m and leveraging OVHcloud and the Startup Program to drive innovation, data sovereignty, and cybersecurity excellence.
• The success of Internxt, a Southern Europe scaleup alumni, which has become a recognized privacy-first alternative to mainstream cloud providers, offering secure, user-centric, and environmentally sustainable file-sharing and storage solutions that protect user privacy and data sovereignty.
• The journey of female founders Jeanne Le Peillet and Cecile Doan, who developed a collaborative design SaaS solution, Beink Dream, selected for the France 2030 initiative.
• The acquisition of Startup Program alumnus OpenIO by OVHcloud, which has become our high-performance object storage solution.

“OVHcloud is a great partner if you are looking for a long-term, reliable, affordable and robust provider. The synergy between Internxt’s mission to protect user privacy and OVHcloud’s commitment to data sovereignty has been pivotal.”

Fran Villalba Segarra Founder & CEO at Internxt

The Startup Program: A Decade of Growth

The report also highlights the Startup Program’s journey over the last decade, including how we operate, our partnerships with incubators, accelerators, venture capital companies, and other enablers, what sets us apart, and how we have successfully supported over 5,000 members to date.

Key Statistics

Personalised Support

What sets our Startup Program apart is our personal touch. As Philip Marais, Global Startup Program Director at OVHcloud, explains: “You’re personally onboarded by a manager in your region, have free support from our engineers to solve technical and migration issues, and access to our unique ecosystem to grow your business.”

Download the Report

To learn more about our ecosystem, our plans for the future, and the impact we can have by 2035, download the “Global Report 2025 – 10 Years of Impact” now.

Our 5000+ startups’ journey with OVHcloud highlights how the right cloud partnership can help overcome challenges, achieve sustainable growth, and scale globally. If you’re a startup looking to transform your business, we encourage you to join the OVHcloud Startup Program or contact OVHcloud to discover how our solutions can support your journey!

OVHcloud is an industry leader for cloud infrastructure for blockchain and Web3 startups, delivering scalable, compliant, and secure cloud solutions made for decentralised applications, enabling the next era of digital trust.

Whether startups are building blockchain-native products or integrating decentralised technologies, our ecosystem offers the technical support, mentorship, and commercial resources they need to succeed.

Key partners in this accelerator that will help with your go-to-market needs are Degen House, Super Team Solana, Crypto Mondays, Alchemy and Dysnix.

Designed to be light-touch in terms of your time but high-impact in terms of value, the Blockchain and Web3 Accelerator offers everything that is OVHcloud (price/performance, energy efficiency, tech freedom, personal touch, decentralization and security of services) and more.

The 10-week program offers:

• €50k in free cloud credits to use on our Public Cloud solutions. This is in addition to Startup Program credits but the maximum total credits that can be allocated remains €100k.
• Deep-dives into blockchain, GTM strategies, sales training etc.
• Workshops on GTM, sales, investor readiness, and marketing to boost growth
• 1-on-1 mentoring from experts
• Engagement with corporates for possible POCs
• Engagement with Venture Capitalists (VCs) for possible funding

Up to 20 startups will be selected for the cohort of the Blockchain and Web3 Accelerator. Applications open on 4th of June, and the accelerator will run from 16 September 2025 to 20 November 2025.

Entries close on 7^th July 2025 (Apply NOW!) and selected participants will be announced on 23 July 2025.

The 10-week program is divided into 3 phases:

1. Phase I – Go-to-Market
   Focus on refining your product-market fit, marketing, and go-to-market strategy. You’ll work with our team to sharpen your positioning and business foundations.
2. Phase II – Build
   Deep dive into blockchain technology and cloud integration. You’ll collaborate with our Web3 and technical teams to optimize your infrastructure and unlock the full potential of OVHcloud solutions.
3. Phase III – Scale
   Prepare for investor engagement and scalable growth. This phase includes sales strategy and investor readiness, culminating in a final pitch at the OVHcloud Summit in Paris on 20 November 2025.

The accelerator program includes 1-on-1 mentoring from OVHcloud and external experts who will be matched with participants based on their needs. The program is designed to be agile, requiring only three hours a week or less, but can scale to support you as needed. It does also include a 1-year commitment to use OVHcloud’s products and solutions to ensure continuity after exit from the Accelerator.

Applications will need to meet the following criteria to be selected:

• You must be a Startup Program member that has been active in the program or as an OVHcloud customer for at least 1 month (not a member? Apply now)
• Your startup must be working with blockchain technology, but please note that we are unable to admit proof of work or mining blockchain creators into the program
• Preference will be given to Scale level members of the Startup Program

“Startups are an essential part of the blockchain ecosystem and one of the building blocks of the digital trust economy,” says Omar Abi Issa, Global Sales Director, Blockchain, Web3 and AI, OVHcloud. “Many startup ideas are created to solve business problems. However, most businesses and consumers experience these problems differently, and before businesses scale (and ‘go horizontal’) it’s important to learn enough about the market and audience so that your solution is truly innovative and useful.

As a former startup, OVHcloud understands what founders and their teams need, but as a global organisation which shares blockchain’s ethos of decentralisation, transparency and security, OVHcloud is in a unique position to help nurture and support the growth of tomorrow’s blockchain champions. We look forward to meeting latest group of companies participating in our accelerator, and are grateful to each and every application to the program.”

Startups like Bware Labs and Super Protocol have already enjoyed the benefits that the Fast Forward Accelerator offers.

“Our collaboration with OVHcloud has been very fruitful since we started using the platform and we are especially thankful to our account manager.” says Flavian Manea, CEO at Bware Labs

“We are very excited to work with OVHcloud, they are a reliable and high-performing partner. They have seamlessly delivered the growth of Super Protocol’s confidential computing infrastructure on which the future of Web3 is being built,” says Yulia Gontar, COO at Super Protocol

Sign up to the Startup Program and Blockchain and Web3 Accelerator today to benefit from a wealth of support – and scale your business faster.

Building on the success of our Fast Forward Accelerator, designed to be light-touch in terms of your time but high-impact in terms of value, the AI Accelerator offers everything that is OVHcloud (data sovereignty, energy efficiency, tech freedom, personal touch, price/performance) and more.

The 3-month program offers:

• €50k in free cloud credits to use on our Public Cloud and AI solutions. This is in addition to Startup Program credits but the maximum total credits that can be allocated remains €100k.
• AI technology deep-dives to solve technical challenges
• Workshops include AI, sales, investor readiness, and PR training to enhance business and communication skills.
• 1-on-1 mentoring from experts
• Engagement with corporates for possible POCs
• Engagement with Venture Capitalists (VCs) for possible funding

Only 10-15 startups will be selected for the first cohort of the AI Accelerator. Applications opened on 1 October for the first cohort of the AI accelerator that will run from 13 January 2025 to 3 April 2025. Entries close on 24 November 2024 (Apply NOW!) and selected participants will be announced on 16 December 2024.

The 3-month program is divided into 3 phases:

1. Phase 1 (Build): The Build Phase will focus on refining your product-market fit and cloud integration. This will include deep dives with our AI Team to make sure you get the best out of our AI Solutions.
2. Phase 2 (Sell): The Sell Phase will focus on business development, corporate partnerships, and sales readiness. In this phase you will engage with potential corporate partners to investigate collaboration.
3. Phase 3 (Scale): The Scale Phase will focus on investor readiness, growth strategy, and funding opportunities. This phase will culminate with a Showcase event where participants will pitch their funding needs to VCs.

Based on feedback from our existing startup community, the program will have a particular focus on data sovereignty. This will include sessions with experts and other organizations to help the cohort understand and deal with sovereignty requirements better, particularly as we draw closer to the finalization of the European AI Act.

The accelerator program includes 1-on-1 mentoring from OVHcloud and external experts who will be matched with participants based on their needs. The program is designed to be agile, requiring only three hours a week or less, but can scale to support you as needed. It does also include a 1-year commitment to use OVHcloud’s products and solutions to ensure continuity after exit from the Accelerator.

Applications will need to meet the following criteria to be selected:

• You must be a Startup Program member that has been active in the program or as an OVHcloud customer for at least 3 months (not a member? Apply now)
• You must have a need for GPUs and OVHcloud’s AI Solutions
• Preference will be given to Scale level members of the Startup Program

Startups like CUX.io, Combigo, Super Protocol and ORPIVA have already enjoyed the benefits that the Fast Forward Accelerator offers.

“During the first weeks of data migration, it became clear that we needed additional training in terms of traffic modeling and routing. This ran outside the scope of our previous provider, but OVHcloud showed flexibility and willingness to help – following a quick technical consultation with an OVHcloud architect cleared any uncertainty. This was very important for us, because traffic control, next to the sheer amount of data held, are our biggest challenges. We have no doubt that OVHcloud is a great partner with whom we can always brainstorm with to come up with the best solution together.” says Kamil Walkowiak, VP of R&D at CUX.io.

“We have been using OVHcloud solutions to develop and deploy our AI-powered applications, including LLM training and automatic AI video generation. We are very satisfied with their performance, reliability, and support.” says Salman Valibeik, CEO and Co-Founder at ORPIVA.

Sign up to the Startup Program and AI Accelerator today to benefit from a wealth of support – and scale your business faster.

BLOG POST

Global Startup Program Showcase Contest: and the winners are…

Roubaix – May 21^th 2023

You missed our Global Startup Program Showcase Contest? And the six successful startup finalists announced for “Best Scaleup” and “Best Startup”? Don’t worry, we have got it all documented here for you!

Today, we are taking a leap in developing our ecosystem! As part of our Fast Forward Accelerator, the OVHcloud Startup Program delivered its Global Virtual Showcase event done in partnership with Empact Ventures, the startup super connectors we love working with.

“The bar was raised this year with the addition of the categories, Best Scaleup and Best Startup to better align with our growing support for scaleups in the Startup Program and through the Fast Forward Accelerator. Well done to all the participants, finalists and winners!”, says Philip Marais, Global Startup Program Leader, OVHcloud.

The finalist line-up

During this game-changing startup event, our team along with Empact Ventures, hosted the final of the annual OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase Contest for six finalists chosen from more than 150 applications. The six successful finalists for the 2024 Contest were:

For Best Scaleup:

• Biocam – Poland – LifeSciences MedTech: specialising in capsule endoscopy that revolutionizes remote gastrointestinal diagnostics, offering a convenient and efficient solution for users.
• Catch – Germany – Data&AI : the first AI recruiter to convince passive candidates to move to a better fit based on their personal preferences.
• Orpiva – UK – Media: a cutting-edge social media marketing platform that leverages AI technology to create trend-driven videos for brands.

For Best Startup:

• PowerBIM – Spain – Data&AI : a digital twin platform that links digital models of buildings and infrastructure with static and dynamic databases to manage the life cycle of assets.
• SpeechMind – Germany – Media : simplifies recruiting for its customers by analysing conversations.
• WISP FR – Data&AI : leverage AI and data from connected vehicles to optimize traffic signals, enhance public lighting, and automate traffic studies, contributing to efficient urban mobility.

All of them were able to pitch to a jury composed of the startup ecosystem experts:

Lucile Beaume, Associate at Breega, Pauline Paquet, Director of Operations at XAnge and Nicolas Romele, Partnership & Ecosystem Marketing Director at OVHcloud.

A huge congratulations to our Best Startup and Best Scaleup winners!

The jury paid special attention to the mission of the startups and scaleups, including the problem they’re seeking to solve, their ambitions and key milestones. The jury also focused on the presentations given by the startups and scaleups and the technology used by the businesses. The successful winners earned a 5,000 euros prize for Best Scaleup and 3,000 euros prize for Best Startup.

And the winners of the 2024 Contest are:

• Best Scaleup: Catch -Germany – Data&AI: the first AI recruiter to convince passive candidates to move to a better fit based on their personal preferences.

“We are thrilled and honored to have won the OVHcloud Global Showcase Contest with Catch. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team and highlights the transformative impact of AI in revolutionizing recruitment processes. We are also incredibly grateful for the invaluable support we’ve received from OVHcloud on our journey. Our partnership has been instrumental in driving Catch’s success, and we look forward to continuing to shape the future of AI-powered recruitment“, says Marco Verhoeven, CEO, Catch

• Best Startup:   PowerBIM – Spain – Data&AI: a digital twin platform that links digital models of buildings and infrastructure with static and dynamic databases to manage the life cycle of assets.

“Winning the OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase Contest is a testament to our team’s dedication, innovation, and relentless pursuit of excellence. Digital twin technology is growing in all sectors, and POWERBIM wants to lead the implementation of digital twins in buildings, infrastructures and cities, to transform the landscape of construction and asset management to be more efficient and sustainable. The OVHcloud Startup Program gives us visibility and energy to scale-up!”, says Fernando Morales Tosar, CEO, PowerBIM

Congratulations to both of them!

The winners will also benefit from entry into the OVHcloud Startup Program with free cloud credits while enjoying Empact Ventures vast network of connections comprised of partners, customers, founders and investors. Each of the finalists will indeed benefit from the opportunities provided by up to five super connections.

“We are proud to have co-designed the OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase for the second consecutive year. We’d like to congratulate all our winners and finalists for their innovative and impactful pitches. We look forward to supporting and super connecting you on the next stage of your journey”, says Kosta Mavroulakis, CEO, Empact Ventures.

The OVHcloud Startup Program has identified, supported and assisted the development of more than 4,000 startups and scaleups with up to €100k in free cloud credits and technical consultation to build their solution on OVHcloud, which offers full reversibility, data sovereignty and great price performance.

Resources

• Learn more about OVHcloud Startup Program
• Learn more about OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase Contest
• Discover OVHcloud offers
• Follow OVHcloud on X and LinkedIn

Unsurprisingly, 50% of B2B tech/services startups die within their first 4 years in business. However, according to research at University of Edinburgh Business School, startups mentioned in leading industry analyst publications achieve an impressive 84% survive-and-thrive rate.

At OVHcloud, we’re all about helping you succeed, so we’re excited to present our new partner holscher.one to address the rarely seen, yet critical part of the B2B tech playing field: industry analyst relations for startups and scaleups.

The founder of holscher.one – Chris Holscher – led global analyst relations (AR) programs at tech mega-players for many years before he focused entirely on serving startups. Chris also initiated and runs the State of Startups with Industry Analysts (SSIA) research program at the University of Edinburgh. His thought-leadership and client results have earned holscher.one a global top 10 AR advisory nomination by hundreds of analysts and experts. Read Chris’s AR advice for startups below and listen to the 4th episode of our “Supercharge Your Startup” podcast, featuring Chris as our first guest for 2024 here.

Cross the chasm earlier

The “Early Majority” – those elusive buyers on the other side of the famous chasm – are less enthusiastic than the innovators and early adopters, but far greater in numbers. If a startup manages to reach them, it stands a good chance of succeeding overall.

These days, the Early Majority buyer is facing a challenge. Innovations such as AI, Robotic Process Automation and “as-a-service” solutions all have the potential to disrupt markets and have made it critical for companies to act sooner on key trends. But it’s not in the Early Majority’s DNA.

Hence, these firms seek guidance from industry analysts more than ever. Trend reports such as Gartner’s Emerging Tech Trends Radars, Forrester’s Tech Tides, IDC’s FutureScape trend reports, and direct enquiries with the authoring analysts, are all in high demand. 

Industry AR is a rarely discussed part of the B2B tech playing field, although it could not be more success-critical for innovative startups. Getting mentioned as a viable example vendor can catapult a startup across the chasm. It’s a serious hurdle that startups need to take 1) before their financial runway ends and 2) quicker than emerging rivals around the world.

Insights and impact

Over 75% of Fortune 1000 tech decision-makers rank industry analyst publications and direct analyst recommendations to their C-suite and SMEs as having the most important impact on tech strategy and buying decisions.

Smart emerging vendors use industry analyst buyer insights for quicker roadmap decisions and sharper messaging. They also use analyst briefings to inform analysts about their market offering as early as possible to leverage analysts’ expert reputation and reach.

A single analyst has some 700-2000 interactions with decision-makers every year. That’s with your rival vendors as well as with potential partners, buyers, and investors inquiring about trends and candidates.

Make it count

In 2022, the State of Startups with Industry Analysts program conducted research with more than 200 analysts worldwide and found that 79% of analysts work specifically with startups to identify and recommend innovative new vendors.

However, part of the challenge is that analysts must prioritize their time to vendors who are able to make a briefing worthwhile. An “influencer” approach or repurposing your sales slides is a mistake – an analyst’s calendar is too busy and the competition too fierce for you to get a second chance.

The last word

Getting AR right requires subject-matter expertise of analyst firms’ characteristics, publications, processes and policies. The individual analyst’s background, research agenda and mindset are also important.

However, not all analyst publications and tools are advisable for startups. You can even realize key benefits without any investment at all. Some publications and tools have tailored startup-specific offerings, some offer incredibly supportive financial models, and others have steep price points but will amaze you with their breadth and depth of value.

Navigating AR for startups successfully requires another key ingredient: self-earned, hands-on experience with emerging vendors’ unique dynamics, everyday challenges and priorities. 

Here’s some key takeaways to keep in mind:

• We understand that needs and possibilities change along the maturity cycle from early stages to series A/B. A phased approach that starts early and with the end in mind works best.
• We appreciate that startup/scaleup capacities are tight, both in terms of time and finances. Our no-nonsense tactic focuses on what actually works and matters now and next.
• AR is neither a straight line, nor is it the same for every business. It requires clarity in objectives and agility in getting there. OKR-led management plays to startups’ natural advantages over established firms.

I am thrilled with our partnership to support the OVHcloud Startup Program and specifically the Fast Forward Accelerator. European emerging vendors have a real gap to close in AR and thus an amazing opportunity to get ahead.

To find out more about AR, connect with your local Startup Program manager here or connect directly with holscher.one

The program has two levels: tech start-ups get €10,000 of cloud credits and tech scaleups get up to €100,000 of cloud credits, enabling them to facilitate exponential and international growth. The program is delivered by an amazing global team who ensure that members get to experience the full benefits of the Startup Program as well as OVHcloud’s value propositions of tech freedom, interoperability, price-performance and data sovereignty, wherever they are in the world.

To date, the Program has received over 11,500 applications and we’ve assisted almost 4,000 startups and scaleups through the program. Check out these case studies or websites to see our Startup Program success stories: HarfangLab, Internxt, CUX.io, Leetify and dSign Systems. We had a very active and successful FY23 with a record number of new members onboarded globally.

Fast Forward Accelerator

We recently launched our Fast Forward Accelerator, a go-to-market offering that helps accelerate our members. Fast Forward includes increased visibility for members through our Shine On program, 1-on-1 mentoring to solve cloud and business challenges through Mentoring for Startups, access to relevant content to accelerate growth through our Content Hub, and access to market and funding through our Showcase events.

Showcase Event

In 2024, we will offer more for our members through Fast Forward. A key need for scaleups currently is access to funding and new customers due to tough economic conditions. Our global virtual Showcase event on 21 March 2024, in partnership with Empact Ventures, will bring our startups and scaleups together alongside venture capital companies, industry and other ecosystem enablers to create the connections required to access funding and business opportunities. We will have a focus on AI and healthtech startups with a few specific opportunities for participants:

• OVHcloud Startup Program Showcase Contest: this Contest will culminate at the Showcase event with 3 startup finalists and 3 scaleup finalists pitching for a €3k and €5k cash prize respectively as well as up to €100k free cloud credits and 1-on-1 mentoring for their businesses. Entries close on 15 February 2024 so enter to pitch and win here now!
• Pitch for funding and business opportunities: selected startups and scaleups looking for funding and business opportunities will pitch live to VCs and industry. Connections will be made between interested parties after the event. Sign up to pitch or attend the Showcase event here.
• Cost of cloud workshop: this workshop will help VCs and startups to understand the challenges when managing cloud costs and how startups can overcome them. Sign up for this workshop and the Showcase event here.

Content Hub

To help more members grow in a scalable way, we have also launched a Content Hub which brings together all of our content for members in one convenient place. Key new content is the addition of a podcast channel that is designed to connect our members with our ecosystem of partners and startups. The podcasts appeal to busy founders looking to solve urgent tech or non-tech issues so that they can continue to grow their startups or scaleups rapidly. The podcasts provide important nuggets of information in a short amount of time that will confirm decisions founders need to make for their businesses. Click here to choose from our podcasts on:

• How to boost software development efficiency
• Increasing your company valuation with a compelling narrative
• Tips for hiring the right tech team to help scale your business
• Accelerating your startup’s growth with the help of industry analysts

In the future, we will be launching vertical specific programs within Fast Forward with tailored content and business opportunities for participants, so watch this space for more details.

OVHcloud Value Proposition

The Startup Program team believes OVHcloud’s value propositions of tech freedom, interoperability, price-performance and data sovereignty are of huge benefit to startups, so we want to develop content that will help the startup ecosystem understand our value. A good example of this is a recent video we produced on data sovereignty which you can watch here.

Mentoring for Startups

Another value-add that gets good feedback every year is Mentoring for Startups. This program offers members mentoring support from OVHcloud employees worldwide. In this way, OVHcloud employees provide Startup Program members with their expertise and experience to help them develop their businesses. Each startup is provided with seven hours of personalized support for the topics they choose with their mentor, to be used over a period of 4 months. Entries are open for the next cohort of Mentoring for Startups which starts on 4 March 2024. As a Startup Program member, you can apply to participate in the next cohort before the 8 February 2024 deadline by speaking to a manager in your region here.

If you’re not an OVHcloud Startup Program member and would like to tap into all these amazing benefits, you can apply to join the program here.