The startups can use USD 10,000 worth of credits monthly, to invest in Microsoft services to power their business.
Microsoft launches the BizSpark Plus program to provide a fillip to the startup ecosystem in India. As part of this program, the company will offer USD 120,000 per year of free Azure Cloud services to each of the qualified startups. The startups can use USD 10,000 worth of credits monthly, to invest in Microsoft services to power their business. The program, in addition to open source friendly Azure, provides free software, developer tools, and technical support to startups.
Microsoft is partnering with 13 startup accelerators to roll out this program in the country. These include 91Springboard, Reliance GenNext, Zone Startups and Pitney Bowes among others. In addition to Azure services, startups will receive the full suite of development and test software and tools such as Visual Studio, Windows and Office. The initiatives are in line with Microsoft’s long-term commitment to contribute to a Digital India. To qualify for the BizSpark Plus program, startups must be privately held; less than 5 years old; have a less than USD 1miilion revenue annually and be member of a select Accelerator or VC firm.
Speaking on the occasion, Rajinish Menon, Director, Microsoft Ventures India, said, “At Microsoft, we are committed to supporting startups and through the BizSpark Plus program we want to support India’s upcoming entrepreneurs and the government’s Digital India vision. We aim to help early stage companies accelerate innovation and deliver their product to customers as quickly as possible. Azure provides the productivity, security, analytics and scalability that startups need to quickly build and grow their businesses. We believe that Microsoft’s Azure Cloud is leading the way for startups and enterprises alike, with the most simple and complete cloud experience available.”
According to Pranay Gupta, Partner, 91Springboard – “The BizSpark Plus programme is a unique opportunity for startups who want to leverage the power of the Cloud and give a boost to their product development lifecycle. We are excited to partner with Microsoft for this initiative and are confident that this will accelerate innovation and help the Indian startup ecosystem access class leading technologies and expertise that Microsoft Azure can provide.”
