DALLAS, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 02/11/13 -- SoftLayer Technologies, a leading provider of global cloud infrastructure, today announced that its Catalyst startup program will support member companies from Startup Texas, a branch of Startup America. These promising startups can take advantage of generous IT credits on the SoftLayer platform for one full year, and get executive mentorship and valuable insights into how to build and scale the next killer application or game.

Founded by Steve Case through a partnership between the Kauffman Foundation and the Case Foundation, Startup America supports a national network of entrepreneurial communities dedicated to advancing the success of American startups. Startup America helps thousands of entrepreneurial leaders, investors, mentors and executives work together to strengthen local communities and help young companies grow.

"We love seeing big companies support startup ecosystems in their own back yards," said Scott Case, CEO of Startup America Partnership. "It's fantastic that SoftLayer is partnering with Startup Texas to bring their Catalyst Startup Program to local Texas startups and provide them with some of the support and tools they'll need to grow."

As of today, Startup Texas members can apply for membership in SoftLayer's world-renowned Catalyst startup program. Catalyst targets high-growth, technology-based startups, providing them with IT cloud infrastructure credits, executive mentoring, and engineering resources. They join the hundreds of U.S. companies -- from independents to graduates of top tier accelerators including TechStars, 500 Startups and Y Combinator -- who all enjoy the benefits of SoftLayer's Catalyst program.

"Catalyst is unique because as a former startup ourselves, we know what it takes to transform an idea or vision into a viable business," commented Paul Ford, vice president of community development for SoftLayer. "Our entrepreneurial spirit runs through Catalyst, helping equip the next generation of web-savvy entrepreneurs with infrastructure and support that is critical for growth and success, especially in the early stages. That includes best-in-class hosted infrastructure, mentorship from SoftLayer's Innovation Team and executives, and increased exposure through marketing initiatives."

More information on SoftLayer and the Catalyst startup program can be found at www.softlayer.com and www.softlayer.com/catalyst. Information on Startup Texas can be found at www.startuptexas.co.

About SoftLayer Technologies
SoftLayer operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. Spanning 13 data centers in the United States, Asia and Europe and a global footprint of network points of presence, SoftLayer's modular architecture provides unparalleled performance and control, with a full-featured API and sophisticated automation controlling a flexible unified platform that seamlessly spans physical and virtual devices, and a global network for secure, low-latency communications. With 100,000 devices under management, SoftLayer is the largest privately held Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider in the world with a portfolio of leading-edge customers from Web startups to global enterprises. For more information, please visit softlayer.com.

About Startup Texas
Startup Texas is a regional branch of the Startup America Partnership that is a growing national movement of thousands of funders, experts and resources providing startups access to the corporations, investors, and services they need to grow. Launched at the White House in early 2011, the Partnership brings together startups and local champions from around the country focused on creating successful networks for young, high-growth companies to thrive. AOL co-founder Steve Case chairs the Partnership and the Kauffman and Case Foundations are its founding partners. American Airlines, American Express OPEN, Dell Inc., Intuit Inc., Microsoft and NYSE Euronext are corporate sponsors. For more information on Startup Texas, visit http://www.startuptexas.co and follow us @startuptex and www.facebook.com/startuptexas.

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