Microsoft commits $500 M to support startups globally
The software giant, in its partnership with startups, has been actively promoting the concept of co-sell, which helps these young firms to navigate through the entire process of sales as a joint effort.
Microsoft, in an endeavour to jointly co-sell along with the startups, has made a commitment of $500 million to support startups and local startup ecosystems around the world to grow, build, and connect.
Microsoft for Startups, through its ScaleUp program, provides a platform for Series A startups to co-sell with their sales teams, get access to top tech venture capitals (VCs) in the global arena and get strategic intervention from thought leaders and industry mentors, said a press release from the company.
According to the software giant, in less than 18 months, Microsoft for startups has closed about 127 co-sell deals by getting $20 million as startup revenue, and has more than $126 million in active pipeline for startups.
Startups today have seen a significant growth in their business, but face challenges in expanding globally due to lack of viable technology solutions and limited access to large enterprises, Microsoft said. To address this issue, it has designed a co-sell motion, which consists of a dedicated resource to help navigate the co-sell process. With one of the largest sales team, Microsoft enables entrepreneurs to sell qualified solutions into their customer accounts based on the startup’s value and expand into international markets.
Lathika Pai - Country Head, Microsoft for Startups, MENA & SAARC
“Being an entrepreneur for 17 years, I understand the dynamics of the challenges and the shortcoming startups face while trying to scale. Microsoft for Startups offers entrepreneurs access to technology and infrastructure. Our programmes like ScaleUp allows startups understand the length and breadth of Microsoft. We are committed to enrich the startup ecosystem and our co-sell motion aims to provide a joint sales experience for them to scale,” said, Lathika Pai, Country Head, Microsoft for Startups, MENA & SAARC.
ScaleUp acts as a platform for innovation and was launched under the Microsoft for Startups initiative. The programme is currently present in eight cities worldwide, and supports pre-series A/Series A B2B tech-enabled startups that aspire to evolve from being market ready to enterprise ready. The current portfolio of Microsoft consists of startups across a variety of industries including fintech, healthcare, enterprise SaaS, mobility solutions, and robotic process automation.
Also read: Microsoft ScaleUP to focus on B2B startups for faster growth