Microsoft has committed $500 million for a new programme to help nurture start-ups, offering resources such as Azure credits and sales support.
"Microsoft for Startups" will deliver access to technology, go-to-market and community benefits to help startups grow their customer and revenue base.
"We are committing $500 million over the next two years to offer joint sales engagements with startups, along with access to our technology and new community spaces that promote collaboration across local and global ecosystems. Startups are an indisputable innovation engine, and Microsoft is partnering with founders and investors to help propel their growth," Charlotte Yarkoni, Corporate Vice President, Growth and Ecosystems at Microsoft, said in a blog post late on Wednesday.
Microsoft has over 40,000 sales representatives and hundreds of thousands of partners.
The programme provides dedicated resources to prepare startup marketing and sales teams to effectively sell their Cloud solutions to enterprise organisations in partnership with Microsoft's global sales organisation and partner ecosystem.
The programme provides startups with up to $120,000 in free Azure credits, enterprise grade technical support and development tools - supporting the languages of their choice.
"In addition, qualified startups also get access to productivity and business applications, including Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics 365," the post said.
Microsoft for Startups aims to help startups at every stage in ecosystems around the world with its resources Microsoft Reactors, Microsoft ScaleUp and Microsoft Ventures.
Microsoft Reactors are physical spaces where entrepreneurs, developers, investors and the business community can come together to interact, learn and share
"Over the next month (March), we will open the doors on new Microsoft Reactor spaces in London, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Berlin, Shanghai and Beijing," Yarkoni said
Microsoft ScaleUp (formerly Microsoft Accelerators) is an immersive global program that offers late-stage and series A startups who have the greatest propensity to take advantage of Microsoft’s growth programs, such as co-marketing and co-selling opportunities, hone their infrastructure and build their businesses.
Microsoft Ventures is Microsoft’s strategic venture capital investment team whose mission is to be an active partner at key stages of a startup’s growth, typically investing between Series A and D.