Facebook Invites Applications for Its New FbStart Program

Facebook announced Wednesday updates to FbStart, a program that provides mobile developers with free tools and services.

Introduced two weeks ago at Facebook’s f8 developer conference, FbStart was initially open only to developers who attended the conference. Now, developers around the world with public iOS or Android apps can apply.

Startups accepted into FbStart will receive credits for Facebook ads and Parse services, plus free tools and credits from FbStart partners to help with product testing, recruiting, customer care, video conferencing, document management and more.

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As part of these updates, Facebook also added two new partners to the group of those offering their tools: Transifex helps apps localize for different markets, and HootSuite assists companies with social media monitoring.

FbStart partner companies and their offerings now include:

• Adobe – creative services
• Appurify – mobile app testing
• Asana – project management
• Blue Jeans –cloud-based video collaboration service
• Desk.com – customer support
• HootSuite – social media monitoring
• MailChimp – email marketing
• Proto.io – mobile app prototyping
• Quip – mobile productivity tools
• SurveyMonkey – online survey platform
• Transifex – localization
• UserTesting – usability testing
• Workable – recruitment

FbStart is an extension of Facebook Platform’s aim to help developers build, grow and monetize their apps.

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“By providing mobile app developers with the essential services they need to get their businesses up and running—or to take them to the next stages of growth—Facebook hopes to help expand the overall app ecosystem,” says the company.

To learn more, and for interested startups to apply, go to fb.me/start.

Photo courtesy: Facebook