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[content]
Confluent for Startups
New in Confluent Cloud: Making Data & Pipelines Accessible for AI-Ready Streaming |
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Why Confluent
Confluent vs. Apache Kafka®
Learn more about how Confluent differs from Apache Kafka
For Practitioners
Discover the platform that is built and designed for those who build
For Executives
Unlock the value of data across your business
Our Customers
Explore testimonials and case studies from Confluent's customers
Our Partners
Find a partner or explore our partner programs
Products
Platform Overview
Meet the data streaming platform
Data Streaming
Build real-time data architectures
Connectors
Easily integrate your data ecosystem
Stream Governance
Democratize access to high-quality data
Stream Processing
Transform, analyze, and act on real-time data
Tableflow
Topics to tables in a few clicks
Confluent Intelligence
Real-time, context-aware AI
Streaming Agents
Automate business processes with AI
Choose Your Deployment
Confluent Cloud
Stream smarter with our fully managed, cloud-native Apache Kafka® service
Confluent Platform
Run and manage our complete data streaming platform on-premises
Confluent Private Cloud
Bridge on-premise control with the automation of a cloud service
WarpStream
Deploy a Kafka-compatible data streaming platform in your private cloud
Demo Center
Wherever you are in your data streaming journey, you'll find the explainer videos and tutorials you need to advance your skills here.
Explore Now
Pricing
Confluent Pricing
Learn more about our pricing structure, features and deployment options
Cost Estimator
Compare your savings with Confluent to a self-managed Kafka deployment
Solutions
Use cases
Shift Left Analytics
Clean and govern data at the source and turn topics into Iceberg or Delta Lake tables
Generative AI
Build RAG and agentic AI use cases with real-time, contextual and trustworthy data
Event-Driven Microservices
Learn to build event-driven microservices applications with data streaming
CDC Pipelines
Build trusted data products with fresh,
high-quality operational data
See All Reference Architectures
Industries
Financial Services
Retail & eCommerce
Manufacturing & Automotive
Public Sector
Telecommunications
See All Solutions & Industries
Read the Complete Guide to Context Engineering for AI
Download ebook
Resources
General Resources
All Resources
Browse whitepapers, ebooks, reports & more
Blog
Best practices, industry trends and news
Virtual Events
Live upcoming sessions with our experts
The Data Glossary
Learn the core concepts of data streaming
Professional Services
Ensure successful outcomes with advisory and implementation services
Contact Support
Developer Resources
Confluent Developer
Courses, tutorials and language guides
Confluent Marketplace
Browse 200+ Connnectors and native integrations
Documentation
Guides, tutorials, API and CLI references
Training & Certification
Start learning for free from Confluent
Developer Meetups
Join a global community of developers
Confluent Events
From Current to the Data Streaming World Tour to local developer meetups, you're invited to unleash your data with Confluent experts
Get Connected
Watch Demo
Try Confluent
US English
Watch Demo
Try Confluent
Watch Demo
Try Confluent
Why Confluent
Confluent vs. Apache Kafka®
Learn more about how Confluent differs from Apache Kafka
For Practitioners
Discover the platform that is built and designed for those who build
For Executives
Unlock the value of data across your business
Our Customers
Explore testimonials and case studies from Confluent's customers
Our Partners
Find a partner or explore our partner programs
Products
Platform Overview
Meet the data streaming platform
Data Streaming
Build real-time data architectures
Connectors
Easily integrate your data ecosystem
Stream Governance
Democratize access to high-quality data
Stream Processing
Transform, analyze, and act on real-time data
Tableflow
Topics to tables in a few clicks
Confluent Intelligence
Real-time, context-aware AI
Streaming Agents
Automate business processes with AI
Choose Your Deployment
Confluent Cloud
Stream smarter with our fully managed, cloud-native Apache Kafka® service
Confluent Platform
Run and manage our complete data streaming platform on-premises
Confluent Private Cloud
Bridge on-premise control with the automation of a cloud service
WarpStream
Deploy a Kafka-compatible data streaming platform in your private cloud
Demo Center
Wherever you are in your data streaming journey, you'll find the explainer videos and tutorials you need to advance your skills here.
Explore Now
Pricing
Confluent Pricing
Learn more about our pricing structure, features and deployment options
Cost Estimator
Compare your savings with Confluent to a self-managed Kafka deployment
Solutions
Use cases
Shift Left Analytics
Clean and govern data at the source and turn topics into Iceberg or Delta Lake tables
Generative AI
Build RAG and agentic AI use cases with real-time, contextual and trustworthy data
Event-Driven Microservices
Learn to build event-driven microservices applications with data streaming
CDC Pipelines
Build trusted data products with fresh,
high-quality operational data
See All Reference Architectures
Industries
Financial Services
Retail & eCommerce
Manufacturing & Automotive
Public Sector
Telecommunications
See All Solutions & Industries
Read the Complete Guide to Context Engineering for AI
Download ebook
Resources
General Resources
All Resources
Browse whitepapers, ebooks, reports & more
Blog
Best practices, industry trends and news
Virtual Events
Live upcoming sessions with our experts
The Data Glossary
Learn the core concepts of data streaming
Professional Services
Ensure successful outcomes with advisory and implementation services
Contact Support
Developer Resources
Confluent Developer
Courses, tutorials and language guides
Confluent Marketplace
Browse 200+ Connnectors and native integrations
Documentation
Guides, tutorials, API and CLI references
Training & Certification
Start learning for free from Confluent
Developer Meetups
Join a global community of developers
Confluent Events
From Current to the Data Streaming World Tour to local developer meetups, you're invited to unleash your data with Confluent experts
Get Connected
Why Confluent
Products
Platform Overview
Data Streaming
Build real-time data architectures
Connectors
Easily integrate your data ecosystem
Stream Governance
Democratize access to high-quality data
Stream Processing
Transform, analyze, and act on real-time data
Tableflow
Topics to tables in a few clicks
Confluent Intelligence
Real-time, context-aware AI
Streaming Agents
Automate business processes with AI
Deployment Options
Confluent Cloud
Stream smarter with our fully managed, cloud-native Apache Kafka® service
Confluent Platform
Run and manage our complete data streaming platform on-premises
Confluent Private Cloud
Bridge on-premise control with the automation of a cloud service
WarpStream
Deploy a Kafka-compatible data streaming platform in your private cloud
Demo Center
Wherever you are in your data streaming journey, you'll find the explainer videos and tutorials you need to advance your skills here.
Explore Now
Pricing
Confluent Pricing
Learn more about our pricing structure, features and deployment options
Cost Estimator
Compare your savings with Confluent to a self-managed Kafka deployment
Solutions
Use cases
Shift Left Analytics
Clean and govern data at the source and turn topics into Iceberg or Delta Lake tables
Generative AI
Build RAG and agentic AI use cases with real-time, contextual and trustworthy data
Event-Driven Microservices
Learn to build event-driven microservices applications with data streaming
CDC Pipelines
Build trusted data products with fresh,
high-quality operational data
See All Reference Architectures
Industries
Financial Services
Retail & eCommerce
Manufacturing & Automotive
Public Sector
Telecommunications
See All Solutions & Industries
Read the Complete Guide to Context Engineering for AI
Download ebook
Resources
General Resources
Resource Center
Blog
Virtual Events
Case Studies & Testimonials
The Data Glossary
Find a Partner
Professional Services
Support
Developer Resources
Confluent Developer
Courses, tutorials and language guides
Confluent Marketplace
Browse 200+ Connnectors and native integrations
Documentation
Guides, tutorials, API and CLI references
Training & Certification
Start learning for free from Confluent
Developer Meetups
Join a global community of developers
Confluent Events
From Current to the Data Streaming World Tour to local developer meetups, you're invited to unleash your data with Confluent experts
Get Connected
Watch Demo
Try Confluent
US English
Watch Demo
Try Confluent
Watch Demo
Try Confluent
Why Confluent
Products
Platform Overview
Data Streaming
Build real-time data architectures
Connectors
Easily integrate your data ecosystem
Stream Governance
Democratize access to high-quality data
Stream Processing
Transform, analyze, and act on real-time data
Tableflow
Topics to tables in a few clicks
Confluent Intelligence
Real-time, context-aware AI
Streaming Agents
Automate business processes with AI
Deployment Options
Confluent Cloud
Stream smarter with our fully managed, cloud-native Apache Kafka® service
Confluent Platform
Run and manage our complete data streaming platform on-premises
Confluent Private Cloud
Bridge on-premise control with the automation of a cloud service
WarpStream
Deploy a Kafka-compatible data streaming platform in your private cloud
Demo Center
Wherever you are in your data streaming journey, you'll find the explainer videos and tutorials you need to advance your skills here.
Explore Now
Pricing
Confluent Pricing
Learn more about our pricing structure, features and deployment options
Cost Estimator
Compare your savings with Confluent to a self-managed Kafka deployment
Solutions
Use cases
Shift Left Analytics
Clean and govern data at the source and turn topics into Iceberg or Delta Lake tables
Generative AI
Build RAG and agentic AI use cases with real-time, contextual and trustworthy data
Event-Driven Microservices
Learn to build event-driven microservices applications with data streaming
CDC Pipelines
Build trusted data products with fresh,
high-quality operational data
See All Reference Architectures
Industries
Financial Services
Retail & eCommerce
Manufacturing & Automotive
Public Sector
Telecommunications
See All Solutions & Industries
Read the Complete Guide to Context Engineering for AI
Download ebook
Resources
General Resources
Resource Center
Blog
Virtual Events
Case Studies & Testimonials
The Data Glossary
Find a Partner
Professional Services
Support
Developer Resources
Confluent Developer
Courses, tutorials and language guides
Confluent Marketplace
Browse 200+ Connnectors and native integrations
Documentation
Guides, tutorials, API and CLI references
Training & Certification
Start learning for free from Confluent
Developer Meetups
Join a global community of developers
Confluent Events
From Current to the Data Streaming World Tour to local developer meetups, you're invited to unleash your data with Confluent experts
Get Connected
Confluent for Startups
Empowering the Next Generation of Startups to Scale with Real-Time Data
Utilize free product credits along with expert technical help to deploy the power of Apache Kafka® and Apache Flink® while maintaining the speed and agility that early-stage businesses need.
Apply now
Customer Stories
Apply Now
Start Up Right — Start with Data Streaming
Learn more about the amazing things promising young Confluent for Startups members have accomplished with data streaming.
Learn More
Learn More
Learn More
Focal Systems is Named Confluent's Inaugural Data Streaming Startup of the Year
Based in San Francisco, Focal Systems is an AI-powered retail automation platform tackling one of the toughest challenges in retail: keeping shelves stocked and customers happy while maximizing store productivity and controlling inventory costs.
Learn more
Program Benefits
Get up and running fast and for free with the world’s best data streaming platform
Up to One Year of Confluent Cloud
Run Confluent Cloud's fully managed Apache Kafka® and Apache Flink® service for up to one year with free product credits.
Expert Technical Help
Get moving fast with two one-hour sessions with a data streaming expert and ongoing access to bi-weekly technical office hours.
Data Streaming Startup Community
Get access to an exclusive community of other program members to help push you through common infrastructure and business challenges.
“Confluent’s startups program helped us hit the ground running in developing our streaming change data architecture. First, their credits helped to take off some of the financial burden of initial implementations and testing. Second, their team of solutions engineers were available on a weekly, and then as-needed basis to answer questions and troubleshoot issues when needed. All of this allowed us to speed up our time to market, getting in front of customers quicker and with more confidence.”
Olly Wilson
Co-Founder and CTO
“Confluent for Startups has been vital to Allium’s growth since early days. Having self-managed Kafka ourselves in our previous jobs, it is a relief that we don’t have to tackle that complexity at early stages of our company’s life cycle, allowing us to focus on other tasks and move fast as we build up our product.”
Cheng Han Lee
Co-Founder and CTO
"Participating in Confluent for Startups was a game-changer for Airy. Early access to features like AI model inference in Flink SQL allowed us to integrate cutting-edge technology into our product and actively influence the development of those features. Frequent interactions with product managers and engineers were invaluable in refining our approach and staying ahead of the curve."
Steffen Hoellinger
Co-Founder and CEO
“Beyond the initial product credits, access to subject matter experts through office hours helped us on multiple occasions to confidently adopt more of the Confluent product suite, which has allowed us to be more nimble while also providing value to our customers more quickly.”
Brady Perry
Co-Founder and CTO
AI Accelerator
Designed to empower a select group of early stage AI startups with advanced real-time data use cases, the Confluent for Startups AI Accelerator provides early access to Confluent’s newest AI tools and features along with one-on-one technical and business mentoring from Confluent’s data streaming AI experts and former venture-backed entrepreneurs.
The AI Accelerator with Confluent for Startups runs twice a year in 10 week batches of 10-15 select startups.
AI Accelerator participants receive all standard Confluent for Startups benefits PLUS:
Technical Mentorship
Deep dive into real-time data processing and AI technologies with a named Confluent senior technical mentor.
Business Strategy
One-on-one coaching from veteran venture-backed entrepreneurs to refine business models, enhance go-to-market strategies, and improve investor pitch decks.
Product Development
Accelerate product development through continuous feedback and access to cutting-edge technology from Confluent and our core technology partners.
Marketing Exposure
Your startup will be featured in Confluent’s marketing and social media channels.
Become a Confluent for Startups Ecosystem Partner
Confluent for Startups partners with some of the world’s leading venture capital firms and startup accelerators to bring cutting edge data streaming capabilities to early stage technical entrepreneurs.
Join today to make Confluent for Startups available to your startup community while gaining exclusive access to Confluent expert-hosted instructional webinars.
To learn more, please contact us at
startups@confluent.io
Making Real Time Data Real Easy for Startups:
Confluent for Startups is dedicated to empowering early-stage startups with the tools, credits, technical help, and community support needed to succeed in the fast-paced world of data streaming and AI. By providing an easy onramp to Confluent’s real-time data streaming platform, we help startups scale faster and smarter. Apply now!
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