The Mendix Startup Program

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The Mendix ISV Startup Program

The Mendix ISV Startup Program enables early stage companies looking to build a software business and monetize their domain expertise by selling solutions. The Mendix ISV Startup Program provides startups with tools and resources to develop, deploy, bring to market, and sell software solutions built on Mendix’s low-code development platform. The economic model of the Mendix ISV Startup Program is based on a revenue sharing agreement that enables startups to establish a profitable and predictable business model. To help our startup partners kick-start their go to market journey, we will waive our revenue share for one year after the initial launch of their solution.

What the program has to offer…

  • Beat any potential competitors to market

    -Ability to accelerate your Go To Market using Mendix, the leading low-code platform.
    -Access to free development licenses for Mendix to develop, test, and demonstrate your solution.
    -Build an MVP quickly and respond nimbly to market demands.

  • Maintain low and predictable overhead

    -Zero percent revenue share in the first year, allowing you to re-invest in your business.
    -Revenue share model makes Mendix platform costs predictable and aligned with your business.
    -Choose whatever pricing model works best for your business (e.g. per user, usage, transaction).

  • Receive world-class support in building your software business

    -Special discount on Mendix Academy classroom trainings.
    -Co-marketing support to bring more attention to your business. Access to the Mendix Marketplace to sell your solution to a world-wide customer audience.
    -Opportunities for technical and business enablement to help start your business.

Who is the Mendix ISV Startup Program for?

The Mendix ISV Startup Program is an opportunity for early stage Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) seeking to market and sell a software solution built on the Mendix platform. The Mendix ISV Startup Program is a sub-set of the Mendix ISV program specially tailored to the unique needs of startups. Check out the FAQs of the Mendix ISV program for more information.

To be eligible for the Startup Program, a startup must meet the below criteria:

– Have a monetizable idea to solve a business problem
– Have the ability to develop a repeatable software solution
– Must be able to independently market, sell, and support a software solution
– Be a registered business entity
– Be a privately held company
– Be less than a year old since inception at the time of application
– Have a primary business model that is not reselling, consultancy, or services

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the difference between the ISV Startup Program and the ISV Program?

    The ISV Startup Program is a specially tailored version of the ISV Program, which targets more established companies. Given Mendix’s background as a startup, we understand the unique challenges and needs of startups looking to launch a new venture! The selection criteria for the Startup Program takes this into account, placing a heavy focus on the potential of the founders to execute on their solution idea. The Startup Program was born out of our desire to help newer startups get a leg up over their competition. As such, for our Startup Program participants, we waive our revenue share for one year.

  • What kind of solutions are right for the Mendix ISV Startup Program?

    With Mendix, you can build a wide range of transactional, event-driven, and adjacent applications for all kinds of industries, regardless of complexity, performance, or scale. The Mendix Solutions Gallery showcases all kinds of applications built using Mendix. Also see the Mendix evaluation guide for more information on what types of projects are good fits for Mendix in general. Additionally, you may access a no-strings-attached, complimentary Mendix sandbox environment to evaluate Mendix.

    The Mendix ISV Startup Program enables early stage companies to monetize their domain expertise. It allows startups with innovative, disruptive ideas to develop and sell a software solution built on Mendix. So, when considering which solutions are best for the Mendix Startup/ISV program, the answer is straightforward – solutions that solve a customer’s business problem are the “right” solutions.

    For Out Of The Box (OOTB) software solutions, most configurations should be built into the application itself so that they do not require the Mendix Modeler to configure. Configuration via the Mendix Modeler is generally part of a Mendix implementation. However, this should remain limited to encourage repeatability and low cost of maintenance. Integrations, if required by the application, are an exception to this and are generally okay to configure in the Mendix Modeler.

    Any application that is not repeatable and/or requires significant customization outside of general integration is unsuitable for this program. Extension of the base solution beyond the original scope of the solution is possible. However, such extension would require the end-customer to purchase a separate Mendix license in addition to the solution.

  • Who will build, market, and sell my solution?

    While we provide free access to the Mendix platform, you are responsible for building, marketing, and selling your solution to ensure your company’s success. For those that are new to Mendix, we highly recommend getting support from Mendix partners to give you a jump start and to ensure your application adheres to the Mendix best practices. Additionally, we provide the Mendix Academy as a way to learn about building applications on Mendix. You can leverage the free and paid training to quickly get up to speed. As a startup, you get a special discount for the paid trainings.

    For additional Mendix support, we have a vibrant community of hundreds of thousands users and active contributors. On the Mendix Community site, the community comes together for all the tools and information they need. On the Mendix Forum, community members help provide support and advice to the rest of the community, and 70% of questions get answered within 30 minutes.

    On the Mendix Community site, you can also find out about updates on the Mendix Marketplace, product releases, webinars, meetups, new blog posts, new Academy content, and documentation.

    Startups are expected to leverage their own resources to independently market and sell their solution without dependency on Mendix’s resources or sales channels.

  • What if I want to build an internal app that supports my business?

    Such use cases fall outside the provisions of all Mendix ISV programs, including the ISV Startup Program. Please refer to the Mendix pricing page for more information about purchasing a Mendix license. Check out the newly introduced Mendix Basic license starting at only USD$60/month!

  • How do I learn more about the Mendix ISV Startup Program?

    To learn more about the Mendix ISV Program contact us below or learn how you can expand your business by becoming a Mendix ISV Startup.

Considering Applying for the Mendix ISV Startup Program?

As part of the Mendix ISV Startup Program, you’ll be able to:

– beat any potential competitors to market
– maintain low and predictable overhead
– receive world-class support in building your software business

Start your journey with four easy steps:

1. Fill in the application form with your information.

– This gives us a quick introduction to you. You will receive a welcome email with a link to our onboarding application.

2. Provide details about your solution via our onboarding application.

– This gives the team further insight into your solution and your market.

3. We will set up an introduction meeting to get know more about you and your business.

Please be ready to discuss:
– Problem you are trying to solve
– Market overview and competitive differentiators
– Key features and product roadmap
– High level architecture, highlighting where Mendix would fit in
– High level business model and go-to-market strategy

4. After the meeting, we will contact you to discuss further steps.

– As we want to provide the right level of support for our startups, we limit the number of spots in the program, and admission to the ISV Startup Program is at our sole discretion.