Last chance to apply for the CloudBeat 2012 Innovation Showdown

Calling all cloud fanatics! This friday is the application deadline for the 2012 Innovation Showdown, one of the highlights of our annual cloud event (Nov. 28-29) at the Sofitel Hotel in Redwood City, Calif.

The Showdown is a lively competition in which we spotlight new companies that are using the cloud in revolutionary ways. We’ll vet over 100 applicants and invite 10 finalists to pitch live at front of an expert panel of judges and 500-plus CloudBeat attendees.

2011 Innovation Showdown winner Zadara Storage has since seen great success in the public cloud sector, recently completing a $7 million funding round.

Do you have a product or service that will change how businesses serve customers, make employees more produtive, and deliver tangible value to investors?

This is your opportunity to showcase that fresh idea, disruptive technology or product, with special consideration for those that haven’t been widely publicized yet. Whether you’re a tiny startup in a garage in Cupertino, Calif., or an established company, we’re looking for any example of innovation in the cloud.

The Showdown winner will be announced at CloudBeat 2012 and will receive a VentureBeat editorial profile, introductions to investors and/or relevant potential customers in our network, and other prizes yet to be announced.

Win or lose, all finalists will receive huge exposure as they present live onstage to top industry players, investors and press.

The submission deadline is 5 p.m. Pacific this Friday, Oct 26. For full details, rules and application form, go here.

Thanks to Norwest Venture Partners for sponsoring this year’s Innovation Showdown. Finally, seats for CloudBeat 2012 are filling up fast, so make sure to grab your ticket today.

Special thanks to the industry leaders who are supporting CloudBeat 2012: Ping Identity as Gold Sponsor; New Relic, dotCloud, Huddle, and Oxygen Cloud as Silver Sponsors; and CollabNet, Aria, Apprenda, Nasdaq OMX, Scality, Egnyte, Norwest Venture Partners, Silicon Valley Bank, RingCentral, and Scale Venture Partners as Event Sponsors.