Software giant Microsoft announced ‘Microsoft for Startups’, a new program that will help startups co-sell their products and grow their customer base by providing them with access to its technology, customer base, partners, and marketing expertise. The company also announced that it is committing $500 million over the next two years to facilitate various activities under this program.
Through the program, startups will get access to specific technical support and development tools, along with free Azure credits. From Microsoft:
“The program provides startups with up to $120,000 in free Azure credits, enterprise-grade technical support and development tools – supporting the languages of their choice, such as Node.js, Java and .NET. In addition, qualified startups also get access to productivity and business applications, including Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics 365.”
The ‘Microsoft for Startups’ program consists of a few components, some of which already exist and have been tweaked or renamed. They include:
- Microsoft Reactors are physical spaces where entrepreneurs, developers, investors and the business community can come together to interact, learn and share.
- Microsoft ScaleUp (formerly Microsoft Accelerators) is an immersive global program that offers late-stage and series A startups who have the greatest propensity to take advantage of Microsoft’s growth programs, such as co-marketing and co-selling opportunities, hone their infrastructure and build their businesses.
- Microsoft Ventures is Microsoft’s strategic venture capital investment team whose mission is to be an active partner at key stages of a startup’s growth, typically investing between Series A and D.
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Credit: Microsoft Blog
