Microsoft, Accenture collaborate on startup challenge to boost innovation in India

The 100X100X100 programme of Microsoft will be collaborating with Accenture to host the third edition of the Accenture Ventures for startups in India, the US-based tech company said on Tuesday.

According to a press statement, this year’s edition of the annual challenge will be held on a virtual format to recognise Indian startups across four categories — supply chain resilience, channel shift to digital commerce, systems resilience, and responsible technology. The event will be held on August 11.

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Accenture Ventures Challenge 2020 will identify 12 innovative startups that are helping to address the business and human impact of COVID-19, driving innovation in the ’never normal’ era.

The winner in each category will be given an opportunity to join the Accenture Ventures Open Innovation partner programme and co-create solutions for Accenture clients around the world. Winners will also get access to benefits from the Microsoft ScaleUp programme, which supports Seed or Series A B2B startups to scale and co-sell with Microsoft sales teams.

Lathika Pai, Country Head, Microsoft for Startups, MENA, and SAARC, said, “This initiative will truly help startups evolve from being market-ready to enterprise-ready with the best resources and support from both Microsoft and Accenture.”

Launched in 2018, the Accenture Ventures Challenge is an annual event run by the Accenture Ventures Open Innovation programme in India to identify the best B2B tech startups to develop solutions for real-world challenges faced by businesses.

The 100X100X100 programme of Microsoft was launched earlier this year in India, to bring together 100 committed companies and 100 early and growth startups with enterprise-ready SaaS solutions. The participating companies also commit $100K over a period of 18-24 months on solutions provided by the startups.

This collaboration is the first corporate access partnership for Microsoft‘s 100X100X100 programme in India.

Avnish Sabharwal, Managing Director for Accenture Ventures and Open Innovation in India, said, “The ongoing business disruption requires an urgent response, and we are confident that we’ll discover innovative new solutions from deep tech startups, to help solve some of the most pressing business and human challenges being faced by organisations in India and across the globe.”