Citrix Systems is celebrating an anniversary today—15 years ago the virtual computing solutions provider launched its IPO, taking its company public.  Company representatives are partying on Wall St. this morning, but Citrix is also using this as an opportunity to give back.  With the launch of the Citrix Startup Accelerator program, Citrix is presenting developers and entrepreneurs with a chance to build around their innovative ideas as well.

Led by Martin Duursma, VP of Citrix Labs and Chair of the Citrix CTO Office, the new Accelerator program is targeting early-stage companies worldwide, giving them seed funding, office space and in-house resources.  With a slow stance on turn-around, Citrix is harnessing the true incubator environment, supporting up to 12 startups for 18 months.  This is a long-term effort for Citrix, with goals for keeping this program as an integrated aspect of its focus on innovation.

“Entrepreneurs are key drivers of disruptive innovation and employment growth,” says Duursma.  “The Citrix Startup Accelerator places us at the forefront of industry trends balancing internal and external innovation.  We expect our seed investments and entrepreneur-friendly environment to help spur new technologies of strategic importance to Citrix, our customers, and our ecosystem.”

It’s that ecosystem that Citrix is really emphasizing, having already embarked on various programs to foster innovation within its company.  Adding the Accelerator program to its Valley-specific efforts is a way for the company to flex its muscles amongst Valley greats.  Citrix already has a proven track record of smart investments, many of which go on to become acquisitions of the cloud computing company.  This is, of course, an effort to seek out more opportunities for Citrix itself to broaden its influence in this still-booming space.

“We’re excited to be at a point with the company to be in a position to do this,” Kim Woodward, VP of Corporate Marketing tells me during a phone call earlier this week. It’s extending our presence in Silicon Valley. We’ve expanded over the past 5 years to 600 employees in the Valley, and this is a nice, natural footprint to continue to make a name for ourselves here.”