Adobe launches free tools for startups in new scheme

Adobe has launched Adobe for Startups, a programme offering eligible early-stage companies a year of free access to a package of Adobe and Semrush tools.

The scheme targets startups founded within the past five years that have raised less than USD $15 million. Participants will receive 12 months of free access to Firefly Pro Plus, Acrobat Studio, which includes Adobe Express Premium, and Semrush.

Adobe is positioning the offer around branding, content creation and customer acquisition at a stage when founders are often handling design, marketing and sales themselves. Alongside software access, the programme includes workshops and other opportunities to learn from Adobe specialists and connect with other founders.

What is included

Firefly Pro Plus is Adobe's generative AI product for image, video and audio work. Acrobat Studio combines PDF tools, Adobe's AI Assistant and Adobe Express, while Semrush adds search and marketing data intended to show how a business appears online across both conventional and AI-led search.

The package is designed to bring together content creation, document tools and marketing support in one programme for small teams. Adobe serves a wide range of customers, from individual creators and small businesses to large corporate users.

The launch comes as software groups seek to embed AI more deeply into products aimed at smaller businesses and startup teams, which often work with limited budgets and staff. For early-stage companies, branding and customer communication can be difficult to prioritise when product development and fundraising take precedence.

Startup examples

Adobe highlighted several startup users as examples of the businesses it wants to reach through the programme.

DataCurve, which works on fan identity and intelligence for sports, media and entertainment organisations, already uses Firefly for creative work and sees broader potential for Adobe tools in linking customer data with content creation.

"Creativity is far more powerful when you understand who you're creating for. We already use Adobe Firefly for creative assets, and we see an even bigger opportunity to bring DataCurve's fan intelligence directly into the creative process. Imagine a global soccer club creating content that evolves throughout the season as it learns more about what each fan cares about. Adobe for Startups gives us the tools to start bringing that vision to life," said Aman Johar, Co-founder and CEO of DataCurve.

Gondola, which is building a digital credit and portfolio system for the social media and digital content sector, said Adobe's products have been part of its workflow since the company's earliest stages.

"Adobe has been part of how we work from day one. When you're launching a company, how you show up matters as much as what you build. Adobe for Startups helps founders get both right," said Jared Kleinstein, Founder and CEO of Gondola.

Another company cited by Adobe was Oruk, a speech AI research lab focused on models that interpret tone, emotion and delivery alongside spoken words. The startup said the programme could help it present research to developers and expand its reach.

"We want to humanize speech AI by bridging the gap between emotion and technology. Adobe for Startups will help us grow Oruk's brand, reach more developers and make our research easier to understand. We're especially excited to use Adobe Express to turn complex speech AI research into short, visual demos that show people what they can build with our technology," said Anastasia Zaporozhtseva, Data specialist at Oruk.

Applicants will be vetted to confirm whether they meet the programme's requirements on age and funding. Country availability and other conditions also apply.