Bootstrap Startup Program

Customer.io For Bootstrapped Companies

Raising money from investors doesn’t make you a great company. At Customer.io, we’ve raised a little, but we’re “fundstrapped”. We recently rolled out a program to support funded startups. We knew we wanted to find a way to support bootstrapped companies with big aspirations too.

That’s why we’re starting this program. We hope this will be big for bootstrapped companies. We’re starting small first and learning how to make it really valuable for you.

At first it’ll be limited to a small number of companies. Our goal is to work closely with companies to learn from them and then scale and help a lot of bootstrapped companies get value from Customer.io. We think Customer.io is best suited for companies with large user-bases or who are growing quickly. If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.

Please apply below, and a team member will contact you upon your acceptance into the program.

Apply to the Bootstrap Startup Program

Plans and Pricing

Startup Basic

Free for 12-months

Startup Basic includes everything you need to start sending messages to your customers.

Free for one year (12-months)
Up to 12,000 users
Customer Community Support
$1,800 value

APPLY TO STARTUP BASIC

Startup +Plus

$100 per month for 12-months

Startup Basic includes everything you need to start sending messages to your customers.

$100 per month for one year (12 months)
Up to 100,000 users
Limited Technical Support
1-Hour Onboarding/Planning and call with the Customer Success Team
Customer Community Support
$12,000 Value

APPLY TO STARTUP +PLUS

“Can’t recommend the Cutomer.io Startup Program enough if you need a marketing automation tool that just gets out of the way. We’ve looked at every tool in the space and Customer.io is hands-down the most feature rich, has all the integrations you need and the startup offer is very generous.”

David Chouinard Cofounder of candor.co

Bootstrap Startups

Bootstrap Program Requirements

To be eligible for Customer.io’s Bootstrap Startup Program, all businesses must meet the following qualifications*:

Funding

Your business has raised less than $2 million in total funding.

Contacts

Contact lists cannot be purchased. Lists must be acquired through traditional business methods.

Membership

Contact lists cannot be purchased. Lists must be acquired through traditional business methods.

Service

Your business is currently not and has never been a customer of Customer.io.

* Falsely misrepresenting your eligibility for the Customer.io startup program set out above may constitute a material breach of the Terms of Service and could result in the termination of your subscription agreement and/or the removal of any discount applied to your purchase. Furthermore, you may be required to repay Customer.io for any discounts received as a result of falsely misrepresenting your eligibility.

Frequent questions and their answers

Do I need a credit card to sign up?

Yes. We keep a card on file for all of our startup program companies. We do this for overages and will also begin charging this card at our normal rate after your initial 12-month deal expires.

Can I change plans after I start?

Yes. After you apply and are accepted into the startup program, you can upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time to suit your business needs. However, changing plans does not extend your plan length.

I’m not sure if I qualify for the startup program – what should I do?

Check out the requirements above on this page and apply if you meet them. Our team will review your application and respond quickly to your inquiry. We reserve the right to not accept any company for any reason.

Which plan makes sense for my business?

That depends. If you think your team will need support and/or you have a lot of users (over 20k) then we’d recommend the Customer.io Startup +Plus plan. If you have less than 12k users and think your team can get up and running without our help, we’d recommend our free basic plan.

I didn’t get accepted into the startup program. Now what?

That’s okay! You can still use our product! Let us know you’re still interested and our sales team will help get you set up on a plan that makes sense for you.

How often are applications reviewed?

Applications are reviewed weekly. All applicants will be contacted upon approval only.

What type of support do I have access to?

If you’re on our Basic Startup Plan, then your support is limited, although community support is available.

If you’re on our Startup +Plus plan you have access to the same level of support as our other customers. Please email win@customer.io with as much detail as possible about your issue.

What are overages? How and when will I be charged for them?

Overages are calculated based on the number of customer profiles you have in your Customer.io account. These overages are only charged when the number of profiles you have in your account exceeds your plans allotted amount (12k for basic, 100k for +plus). If overages occur, we will charge the card we have on file.

The overage fee is $0.004 per profile or $4.00 per thousand profiles.

For example, if you are on our basic plan but you have 13k users in your account, your bill will be $4.00 for the first 12 months (assuming your user volume stays the same). After your first 12 months, your plan will return to its normal rate of $150 per month + overages, which would mean your bill would be $154.

I’m looking for a higher level of support – what should I do?

Please email startups@customer.io. We can discuss which paid option gets you the support you need.

Who can I contact if I have additional questions?

Please send all questions to startups@customer.io.

We are a bootstrapped company who has not received financial backing from one of your partners. Can we apply to the startup program?

We offer a special startup program for bootstrapped companies and are currently accepting a limited amount of companies to this program. You can learn more and apply here.