SAN FRANCISCO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, on Wednesday announced it has committed more than 30 million U.S. dollars to early stage startups led by Black, Latino, LGBTQIA+, and women founders as part of its new AWS Impact Accelerator.

       Over the three-year commitment, AWS will provide funding and guidance for a series of programs that will help these organizations build successful companies. Each qualifying startup receives up to 225,000 dollars in cash and credits, extensive training, mentoring and technical guidance, as well as introductions to Amazon leaders and teams, networking opportunities with potential investors, and ongoing advisory support, according to the announcement.

       The AWS Impact Accelerator gives high-potential, pre-seed startups the tools and knowledge to reach key milestones such as raising funds or being accepted to a seed-stage accelerator program, while creating powerful solutions in the cloud.

       On acceptance into the eight-week program, participants will create a wide-ranging, personalized training curriculum from dozens of available sessions delivered by AWS startup experts and guest speakers.

       "When we launched in 2006, AWS changed the game for startups by giving them access to the same technology as the world's largest enterprises," said Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services. "Today, we continue to level the playing field so that founders can pursue their ideas and grow successful businesses regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or race."