Microsoft ‘ScaleUp’ Is All Set To Bring About The 12th Startup Cohort In India

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Microsoft ‘ScaleUp’ on 6 April, announced the 12th cohort consisting 12 startups for its programme to empower them with technology, go-to-market, and community benefits, according to media reports.


 


Microsoft currently caters to over 5,000 tech start-ups and more than 200,000 large and small-and-medium businesses in India.


What is its objective?

ScaleUp (known previously as Microsoft Accelerator) intends to focus on late-stage B2B startups and helps them accelerate their business growth through mentorship, streamlined go-to-market (GTM) activities and access to world-class technology.

The 12 startups in the cohort are AppICE, Appiyo Technologies’ Twixor, Avanseus Technologies, eGovernments Foundation, Gaia Smart Cities Solution, GrowthEnabler, Karo Sambhav, Kogence, MachineSense, SmartVizX, Sprinkle Data and Xurmo Technologies.

These startups are focused on areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), Big Data Analytics.

During the six-month programme, these startups would get the benefit of working with the Microsoft leaders, industry experts and leverage the Microsoft Partner Network to scale up their business and to serve their clients.

The startups would get access to Microsoft’s expertise, infrastructure and Azure Cloud platform to build a strong technology backbone for their business.


The background

Global tech giant, Microsoft has turned its interest towards Indian startups after a long gap.

Peggy Johnson, global vice-president of the Satya Nadella-led company, has revamped the venture arm by roping in her former Qualcomm colleague, Nagraj Kashyap to lead it. The headquarters have been relocated to Silicon Valley, with offices in New York, London and Tel Aviv, Israel and the one planned in India.

Speaking to Economic Times, Johnson had said,

“WE LOOK LARGELY AROUND OUR CORE AMBITIONS — CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE, AI, MACHINE LEARNING (ML) AND CONNECTIVITY. BUT INDIA IS UNIQUE BECAUSE THE PRODUCTIVITY HERE IS MOBILE ONLY. WE HAVE LEARNT A LOT AND LOOK FORWARD TO LEARNING MORE. WE GENERALLY FOCUS ON SERIES A AND B (FUNDING), WITH A LITTLE BIT OF SEED. BUT LARGELY SERIES A AND B AND IT IS ANYWHERE BETWEEN $2 MN AND $10 MN. IT WILL BE PART OF OUR GLOBAL CORPUS.”

With a deep commitment towards fostering the startup ecosystem in India, Johnson claimed that Microsoft would as a hub for its research and development, and engineering activities, and also as a market for its products. Currently, it has about 11 offices in the country that employs about 8000 people.

She has also pointed out that Microsoft Ventures is going to help India overcome the bank frauds that have shaken India. The company had also assured that Microsoft has a history of compliance and will adopt any new regulations as well.

It claimed that technology tools like blockchain can help resolve the current concerns on the data security and privacy front.


Also Read: Uttarakhand CM Rolls Out Startup Yatra Intending To Register 200 Startups In 2 Years