Talkdesk Launches Talkstart, a Free Licensing Program for Startups

Talkdesk,a provider of cloud-based call center software, today launched Talkstart, a program to help technology startups with free Talkdesk call center software licenses. Dozens of top venture capital firms and accelerators, including 500 Startups, Techstars, and co.lab, are participating in the Talkstart Program to offer their associated startups one year of free Talkdesk licenses.

"As startups grow, the need to develop an excellent customer service strategy becomes absolutely critical to the acquisition and retention of customers," said Tiago Paiva, co-founder and CEO of Talkdesk, in a statement. "Leading voices in the startup space are quickly realizing that the provision of real-time, personalized support is make-or-break in the modern consumer landscape."

In addition to the complementary software licenses, Talkdesk is also offering expedited onboarding to help companies launch their call center software solution as fast as possible.

StudySoup, a college learning marketplace, is a current Talkstart Program participant and 500 Startups alum.

"StudySoup is thrilled to partner with Talkdesk and 500 Startups," said Sieva Kozinsky, founder and CEO of StudySoup, in a statement. "The Talkstart Program helped us create our call center quickly so we could hit the ground running. As a result, we are able to offer world-class support to our customers and gain a real competitive advantage in our industry."

The idea for Talkstart stems from Talkdesk’s origins as a lean, customer-centric startup. Since participating in 500 Startups in 2011, the Talkdesk team has scaled to 120 employees, raised $24.5 million in funding, and has a customer base of more than 1,000 companies.