Amazon Web Services (AWS) is guided by customer obsession, pace of innovation, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. By democratizing technology for nearly two decades and making cloud computing and generative AI accessible to organizations of every size and industry, AWS has built one of the fastest-growing enterprise technology businesses in history. Millions of customers trust AWS to accelerate innovation, transform their businesses, and shape the future. With the most comprehensive AI capabilities and global infrastructure footprint, AWS empowers builders to turn big ideas into reality. Learn more at aws.amazon.com and follow @AWSNewsroom.
AWS's Startup Team, including the AWS Startup Activate Program and AWS Joint Innovation Center, is part of Amazon's global initiatives to accelerate cloud-centric innovation across the startup ecosystem and to cultivate the next generation of founders. Through strategic university partnerships and startup programs, we build and grow a thriving innovation pipeline — from student entrepreneurs to high-growth ventures. We are keen to hire people who share this passion and can bring fresh perspectives to challenge our expectations.
As an AWS Business Development Intern, you will have the exciting opportunity to work in the Startup Team to drive university engagement and startup acquisition under the AWS Startup Activate Program. You will be responsible for building the university-to-startup pipeline — identifying, onboarding, and nurturing early-stage startups from campus ecosystems through to full Activate activation. Working with internal stakeholders, you will be part of the core team driving this initiative locally while ensuring alignment with and reporting of key metrics to leadership. AWS is seeking a go-getter and a quick-learner who can dive deep into programs, whilst thinking innovatively about how to reinvent processes and scale impact.
You will help ensure customer expectations are met through clear and swift follow-up. Working across universities, incubation centers, startup communities, and enterprise partners, you will quickly understand their ecosystems and empathize with the challenges founders face.

Key job responsibilities
University Engagement & Startup Pipeline

• Build and manage strategic partnerships with universities, including engagement with incubation & entrepreneurship centers, and faculties to identify startups
• Plan and execute university-focused programs and events including workshops, hackathons, startup pitch competitions, and incubation center partnerships to drive startup discovery and Activate sign-ups
• Serve as the primary point of contact for university stakeholders (educators, incubation center managers, student entrepreneurship leads) to maintain and deepen relationships

AWS Startup Activate Program

• Own end-to-end Activate onboarding for university-sourced startups — from initial outreach and qualification through application, activation, and ongoing nurturing
• Drive key program metrics including Activate sign-ups, startups onboarded, and university events run
• Conduct 1:1 engagement with startup founders to understand their needs, communicate AWS value, and guide them through the Activate journey

Joint Innovation Center (JIC) & Ecosystem Programs

• Support Joint Innovation Center (JIC) programs operations, including startup prospect engagement and community management (startups, investors, corporates) by orchestrating cross-functional and partner resources
• Support AWS-led and third-party collaboration events
• Assist in managing co-nurturing programs and cohort-based startup initiatives in partnership with ecosystem partners

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with broader teams and assist full-time employees
• Support data analysis, tracking of metrics and reporting, special project management, proposal writing, and post-event tracking and follow-up

About the team
The AWS Startup Team is dedicated to empowering the next generation of builders. We work at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and education — partnering with universities and innovation hubs to identify high-potential founders and help them build on AWS from day one.