Techstars, a leading global accelerator and investor in early-stage startups, today announced a partnership with Zendesk as part of the new Zendesk for Startups program. Through this collaboration, Techstars portfolio companies will receive access to Zendesk's full AI-powered customer experience suite at no cost, alongside resources and partner benefits designed to help founders build and scale faster.

A $100 Million Commitment to Startups

Announced at Zendesk's annual Relate conference, the Zendesk for Startups program represents a $100M, two-year commitment to help founders move faster, automate, and build world-class customer experiences into their stack from day one. For the first time, Zendesk is also extending dedicated benefits to venture capital partners across their portfolios, and Techstars is proud to be among the inaugural group of VC partners.

What This Means for Founders

Startups in the Techstars portfolio will receive up to two years of access to Zendesk's full AI suite at no cost, the longest no-cost commitment of any customer experience startup offering currently available. That includes AI Agents Advanced for automating support before headcount becomes a constraint, frictionless onboarding support to go live quickly, and more seats and higher monthly resolution limits than any other CX platform in the market.

Members also gain access to a new digital membership hub, exclusive partner benefits from AWS, GitHub, Notion, and others, and direct access to Zendesk Labs, Zendesk Ventures, and Zendesk executives for feedback and product input.

The program is built to grow with startups and extends support through Series B for companies with up to 250 employees. More than 50,000 startups globally have already scaled on Zendesk.

Why This Partnership Matters

Early infrastructure decisions shape everything that follows for a startup. By partnering with Zendesk, Techstars is giving founders one less thing to worry about and one more reason to focus on building. AI has fundamentally changed what a small team can accomplish from day one, and this program ensures Techstars founders have the tools to take full advantage of that shift without cost getting in the way.

"We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Techstars to give the next generation of founders the ultimate competitive edge," said Denise Quashie, Senior Director, Global Startups Business at Zendesk. "The best founders move fast and build with conviction. Through Zendesk's new $100 million commitment to the startup ecosystem, we’re stripping away the cost barriers to enterprise-grade AI and providing early-stage companies with crucial capital relief. This collaboration ensures Techstars' lean, agile teams have both the financial and operational runway to scale seamlessly — preventing customer support from becoming a bottleneck so founders can focus on building enduring businesses from day one."

Get Started

Techstars founders can learn more and apply for the Zendesk for Startups program at zendesk.com/startups.

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