Startup Radiant claimed that promotional credits helped convince the company to host its open-source Earth imagery platform on Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS).
Radiant launched operations last August with funding from Omidyar Network and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project is targeted at developers and aims to provide a “geospatial and imagery platform that supports knowledge transfer to positively affect the developing world’s most pressing social, economic, and environmental problems.”
Today, the company announced that its platform will be hosted on AWS cloud. This announcement was prompted by promotional credits.
Radiant received promotional credits from AWS to accelerate its development. This will establish Radiant as a global steward for the world’s growing, yet disparate, sources of open geospatial, Earth imagery, and data,” the company stated in a statement. Open imagery and data, when combined with analytical tools and capacity-building programs, will be used to generate powerful insights and support for transformative change.
Although the company did not specify the promotional program used to lure the Earth imaging platform to AWS the cloud giant has used it in a variety ways to entice developers as well as other users to use its services.
AWS announced last week that it would award $100 promotional credits to developers who publish Alexa Skills. These skills allow users to use natural language commands to control home computing devices like Echo. Developers who see their Alexa skill projects become popular enough to exceed the usage limits for the Free Tier will be eligible for $100 credits each month to keep their projects running.
AWS participates in promotional programs as well. AWS offers cloud credits for research, $250 infrastructure credits, and AWS Marketplace security products.
Radiant may have used the AWS Activate program to scale their business. It provides startups with the “low cost, easy-to-use infrastructure needed to scale and expand any size business.” The program has been used by companies like Robinhood, Slack, and Airbnb. One package provides up to $15,000 AWS Promoal Credit for up two years. A “Portfolio Plus” package provides the same or $100,000 for one-year.
Radiant CTO Dan Lopez stated that Radiant’s initial set of cloud capabilities will be infused with the AWS Cloud. “We will support infrastructure that works with many cloud provider, and AWS is crucial to our scale as well as global reach. Radiant will be able to quickly develop the first phase of its platform using AWS promotional credits. We are excited to work with AWS in order to bring more Earth imagery to the cloud.
Promotional Credits at AWS Lure Open Source Earth Imagery Project
