Splunk

Choosing the right route

• Startups: Splunk's website does not list a programme for startups. If your product is built on Splunk, the Developer Program is the closest fit, but its page does not say who can join.
• Nonprofits: the Splunk Pledge is the donation route. Read its eligibility criteria before applying.
• Universities: the Academic Alliance is for students, faculty and IT staff at universities.
• Existing customers: a free individual Splunk Enterprise or DevTest licence is available if you already use Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud.
• Partners: Partnerverse is the partner programme.

Before you apply

• Confirm eligibility with Splunk first. The nonprofit form lists India as a country, but the eligibility criteria are written for US-based charities.

How selection works

• The pages reviewed do not describe how participants are chosen for any programme.

Splunk LLC is a software company that has operated since 2003 and is now part of Cisco. Its headquarters is in San Jose, California, and its contact page also lists an office in Hyderabad, India. Splunk's website does not list a programme for startups; the schemes it does list are for nonprofits, universities, developers, existing customers and partners.

What the company does

Splunk says it has helped organisations explore the depths of their machine data since 2003. Its Agentic Ops Hackathon was built around three areas: observability, security and platform. Its licence offers refer to Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud, the two products that existing customers can request licences for.

Programmes and who can use them

The Splunk Global Impact Product and Training Donation Program, also called the Splunk Pledge, gives qualifying nonprofits a free one-year, 10GB licence for Splunk Enterprise, with complimentary eLearning and support to get started. Splunk says it has committed to donating software licences, training and support to nonprofits and educational institutions around the globe.

The Splunk Academic Alliance offers Splunk training and industry-recognised Splunk certifications at no cost to university students, faculty and IT staff.

Developers can use the Splunk Developer Program, which gives app developers tools, licences, support and community access to build apps and grow within the Splunk ecosystem.

Existing Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud customers can request a free individual licence for Splunk Enterprise or DevTest. Each licence allows up to 50GB of data ingestion a day and runs for a six-month term that can be renewed.

Splunk Partnerverse is the company's partner programme. Splunk says it empowers organisations to innovate, enhance security practices and cultivate resilience.

Who can apply

The Pledge is open to a US-based 501c3 nonprofit organisation, a certified international charity, or a public or private not-for-profit academic institution. The pages reviewed do not define the phrase certified international charity.

Splunk's pages give two different signals for nonprofits in India. Its nonprofit application form includes India in its country list. Its eligibility criteria, however, are written for US-based charities and mention a certified international charity without defining it. A nonprofit in India cannot tell from the pages alone whether it qualifies, so the question should go to Splunk directly.

The Academic Alliance is for universities and their students, faculty and IT staff. The dev/test licences are for existing customers. The pages reviewed do not state who can join the Developer Program or Partnerverse.

The Agentic Ops Hackathon

Splunk invited developers, security professionals and IT teams to build AI-powered solutions in its Observability, Security or Platform tracks. Submissions ran from 18 May to 15 June and are now closed. Prizes and free passes to the company's conference were on offer. The pages reviewed do not say whether participants from India could take part.

Is it right for a startup?

None of the schemes listed on Splunk's website gives startups grants, incubation or equity investment. A startup that builds on Splunk can use the developer route, and a startup that sells to Splunk customers can look at the partner route. Founders looking for funding or incubation should look for those elsewhere.

Offices and locations

Splunk LLC's headquarters is at 3098 Olsen Drive, San Jose, California 95128. The contact page also lists an office in Hyderabad, Telangana, and separately lists AppDynamics Technologies India Private Limited in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The page does not say which entity runs the Hyderabad office.

Who runs it

Splunk is now part of Cisco Systems, Inc. Cisco completed its acquisition of Splunk in 2024, and Splunk now describes itself as a Cisco company.