“Navigating the headwinds of building a startup can be challenging – from focusing on innovation and connecting with investors to finding product market fit,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Cloud + AI, Microsoft.
#Apptivate founders free#
The platform provides free access to over $100.000 in powerful development and productivity tools including GitHub, Microsoft 365 and more.
If the startup utilizes those credits in a few months, they can request more from within the platform and we will move them up to the “Develop” stage at $5,000 for one year. For instance, if a founder is in the “Ideate” stage and is developing a prototype we will provide $1,000 for one year. As usage increases, founders can unlock additional credits over time. With the platform, startups can build their businesses at their own pace with up to $150,000 of Microsoft Azure. We want to provide flexibility for startups to work with Microsoft as they shape their businesses. “As an experienced founder, access to a diverse network – to validate ideas, get advice and coaching – was instrumental in my success and is something we aim to provide to every founder through the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.” Technology benefits that growįounders consistently share that the startup journey is unpredictable and filled with uncertainty. “Our ambition is to make the global startup ecosystem more representative of the world at large regardless of background, location, progress or passion,” said Jeff Ma, vice president, Microsoft for Startups. To that end, unlike others in the industry, we don’t require startups to be “investor-backed” to sign up and access benefits. With Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, we envision a startup ecosystem that is open to all – from idea to exit. Access to mentorship and guidance: Becoming a founder is no longer about “who you know.” Through the platform, startups can connect with industry veterans, access tailored startup-centric training and innovate quickly with expert technical guidance.To address the unique needs of startups, we are also partnering with innovative companies like OpenAI, a global leader in AI research and deployment, that develops AI systems such as GPT-3 and Codex to provide startups with exclusive benefits and discounts. Technology benefits that grow: Keeping pace with a startup’s lifecycle, the platform helps founders speed development with free access to GitHub and the Microsoft Cloud with the ability to unlock additional benefits over time.Unlocking innovation for all: The platform eliminates traditional barriers founders face when getting started, such as venture capital requirements or third-party validation to help any founder regardless of background, location or access be successful.Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub is centered around three key areas: Open to anyone with an idea, the platform is designed to address the most common challenges startups face. Based on real-world feedback from thousands of entrepreneurs from around the world, across a range of backgrounds, we are excited to unveil, Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub. With this in mind, we set out to better understand what startups need to be successful, especially when just getting started. Despite being vital to innovation and growth, by some estimates, over 90% of startups will go out of business in their first year. Startups play a pivotal role in a thriving ecosystem given their outsized ability to push the entire ecosystem forward. At Microsoft, we aim to create and maintain a healthy ecosystem where our partners and customers can thrive.