Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence division of Alibaba Group, has announced it will invest $1 billion to support startups in the Asia-Pacific region over the next three years.
The $1-billion commitment will be the initial funding for Project AsiaForward, an initiative that seeks to cultivate a million-strong digital talent pool, support 100,000 developers, and grow 100,000 technology startups in the region.
The project’s launch comes as Alibaba Cloud sees strong demand for cloud-native technologies in emerging verticals across the Asia Pacific, from e-commerce and logistics platforms to financial technology and online entertainment.
“Innovative technology is critical to the recovery from COVID-19 while a strong pipeline of talent well versed in digital applications is needed to support the sustainable development of today’s digital economy,” said Jeff Zhang, president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
Zhang added that the focus on innovation and data centre investments, as well as talent development, is “in anticipation of a digital-first future.”
The initiative also followed Alibaba’s announcement in May that it will invest all incremental profits into technology and e-commerce after a $2.8-billion fine from antitrust regulators.
As part of the program, Alibaba Cloud will launch its first data centre in the Philippines by the end of this year, marking its growing commitment to the country.
Alibaba Cloud is also building its first international innovation centre in Malaysia and its third data centre in Indonesia. Currently, the company operates 75 availability zones in 24 regions around the world.
“Our strategic roadmap for APAC includes targeted investments to facilitate the digital transformation of local businesses,” said Selina Yuan, general manager of the International Business Unit at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “We see these investments as all the more timely given the impact of the pandemic and the sharp rise in demand for digital business tools.”
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud is China’s leading provider of public cloud services by revenue in 2019, according to IDC. The company offers cloud services to customers worldwide, including database, storage, security, management and application services, big data analytics, and IoT services.