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Facebook's FbStart has doled out $100 million to 3,800 startups

Looking forward, Facebook touted FbStart will be offering more benefits, adding nine new partners and an additional track for pre-launch startups.
Written by Rachel King, Contributor

FbStart, Facebook's program to help get mobile developers grow their startups, is moving into its second year after doling out millions of funds already.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-headquartered company boasted on Thursday that it has distributed more than $100 million in benefits to approximately 3,800 participating startups since launching the program about a year ago.

Such a program not only helps fuel Facebook's mobile-first business strategy, but it also grows its brand and developer community worldwide.

More than 60 percent of FbStart members are located outside North America, according to Kevin Prior, a product marketing manager at Facebook, in a blog post on Thursday.

"We launched FbStart at F8 2014 with a small set of partners and the goal of building a global community of mobile developers," Prior reflected.

Looking forward, Facebook promised even more benefits on the way, mostly tailored to mobile gaming and a line of services tied to one of Facebook's other big pet projects.

The "Social Good" package of services will include mentoring from the Internet.org department, Facebook's initiative for expanding Internet connectivity access worldwide with a focus on developing markets.

FbStart is also adding nine new partners and an additional track for pre-launch startups.

FbStart previously consisted of two tracks -- Bootstrap and Accelerate -- both of which received a boost in financial benefits, nearly doubling in funding to $30,000 and $80,000 respectively doled out to qualifying startups.

The new track will consist of benefits and mentoring opportunities personalized for startups that have yet to launch their apps.

Among the new partner community members are GitHub and Zendesk, among more than 20 other prominent tech brands that have committed exclusive services to FbStart, such as Adobe, Salesforce's Desk.com, and Stripe.

Facebook also revealed plans for a 2015 FbStart World Tour, hitting up 20 cities worldwide to meet with FbStart companies and developers. With stops scheduled from Austin to Singapore to São Paulo, the tour kicks off in London on June 1.

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