In a similar vein, MailChimp recently announced a new $1 million dollar fund for startups building products that integrate with the service’s API.

Interestingly they are not taking equity in exchange for their investment. Just hoping to spur usage and development. This is an exciting way for them to work closely with entrepreneurs and leverage their marketing dollars to drive traction and collect valuable feedback from their most important customers. If done correctly, it aligns their interests with their customers and that is a recipe for success.

Obviously other companies have created funds - such as: GE, Intel, Motorola, Google, Hearst, among others.

But I am particularly excited to see a smaller, less established player taking the risk and am hopeful it works out.