Microsoft to strengthen connect with startup ecosystem in India
Microsoft will look to empower the startups in India either through investing in them or enabling them to be ready for the enterprise market through various programmes.
Global software giant Microsoft reiterated its commitment to the startup ecosystem in India with the strengthening of its two flagship programmes – M12 and Microsoft for Startups.
M12 is the venture capital arm of Microsoft, which was launched in 2016, and it made its presence in India in January this year, while Microsoft for Startups helps these young companies to become enterprise ready.
Commenting on this, Microsoft India President, Anant Maheshwari said,
“Microsoft has been playing a vital role in shaping and nurturing the startup community in India and across the world. With our intelligent tech expertise, deep focus on trust and unique global go to market partnering, we empower unicorns and startups to scale sustainably at a global level. We remain excited about India’s entrepreneurial startup potential, and will continue to accelerate it as a growth engine for the economy.”
M12 has also made an investment in India based healthcare startup – Innovaccer. It invested $10 million as part of its Series B round, which was announced in January this year.
Rashmi Gopinath, Partner, M12, said,
“India is an extremely important market for us, and we will continue to partner with the startup ecosystem here.”
It is focused on startups which are in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure.
M12 is present in North America, Europe, and Israel. It has totally done around 80 investments globally, with cheques sizes ranging between $2 million and $10 million.
The Microsoft for Startups programme is helping startups become enterprise ready. This opens doors for startups across the globe by leveraging Microsoft’s cloud marketplace, enterprise sales team, and a partner ecosystem to reach customers globally. Under this initiative, the Microsoft ScaleUp programme supports Seed or Series A funded B2B (and select B2C) tech-enabled startups to scale and be competitive. Through this programme, startups can co-sell with Microsoft sales teams, get access to top tech VCs in the global arena, and get mentorship from industry veterans.
In less than 18 months, Microsoft for Startups has closed more than 120 co-sell deals with more than $126 million in active pipeline for startups.
According to Microsoft, these three different entities are collaborating closely to help startups achieve significant success in the market.
